Indian bowler Ashish Nehra decided to retire from cricket with a bang. The amazing cricketer said goodbye to his 18 year long international cricket career yesterday. Nehra played his last match against New Zealand with India emerging victorious by 53 runs.
The star of the show was Nehra showing off his fancy footwork with the ball. Nehra tossed the ball in the air with his foot and caught it in his hand to avoid the ball rolling out of the field.
Captain Virat Kohli asked Nehra to bowl for the last over of the match. After the match, Nehra said, “I must be the one bowler who sent down the last over most number of times for India. But those times were different. There was no pressure today.”
How’s that for footy skills from our very own Nehraji? What do you make of that @YUVSTRONG12 😉 #INDvNZ pic.twitter.com/YaTeJk5d0t
— BCCI (@BCCI) November 1, 2017
It was a touching farewell for Ashish Nehra as he played his first and last match in the same Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium in Delhi.
Nehra’s career has been fruitful and extraordinarily amazing.
Here is a list of Nehra’s achievements in Cricket:
1. Among the 17 test matches he has played, Ashish took 44 wickets.
2. Nehra played a total of 120 ODI matches and secured 157 wickets.
3. The cricketer bowled for 26 T20 international matches and took 34 wickets.
4. Among his 131 T20 matches including the leagues, Nehra took 162 wickets.
5. In Nehra’s complete International career of 18 years, he took a total of 235 wickets.
6. His best bowling score was back in 2003 during the World Cup. India was playing against England and Nehra took six wickets and allowed only 23 runs.
The Indian Team members were disappointed to see Nehra go but were grateful to have played alongside a legend. Rohit Sharma spoke of his fondest memory of Nehra and said, “I clearly remember his spell against England in World Cup 2003, his 6/23. That was one magical spell, and one of the best in World Cups for India. He has been a true gentleman of this game. I have been fortunate enough to share those memories with him. I can only wish him best for his future, in whatever he does. He’ll be a really good advisor and a friend to us. All the best.”
After the match, Nehra said, “I last played Test Cricket when I was 24 or 25, but at the end, to have played for 18 years and to be here standing in blue clothing and to have played my final match, I could not have asked for anything more. I have no regrets. I am always happy, retired or otherwise.”
The Indian Cricket Team celebrated their victory along with Ashish Nehra’s long and successful career.
Virat Kohli was quoted saying, “To have played 19 years is very hard for a fast bowler. I know how professional he’s been and how hard he’s worked. He deserved this kind of a farewell with the crowd cheering him. He can now spend time with his family, he’s got a beautiful family. We’ll stay in touch but we’ll miss him and I wish him all the best.”
