Indian pacer Ashish Nehra recently announced the news of his retirement from all forms of the game. He will play his last international game on 1st of November when India take on New Zealand in the first T20I of the 3-match series. Fittingly, he will bid goodbye to the game on his home ground, Feroz Shah Kotla in Delhi.
Nehra has revealed that he was under no pressure of retiring and that it was totally his decision to call it quits. He said that Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah are doing well for the team and hence, it’s the right time for him to leave the game.
“It’s my own decision. Match on Nov 1 is in Delhi. There’s no bigger thing than to retire in your home town. When I was selected for this series, I informed Virat (Kohli) and coach (Ravi) Shastri that I think Bhuvi (Bhuvneshwar Kumar) and (Jasprit) Bumrah are doing really well. And that this is the right time for me to go,” Ashish Nehra said while speaking to the media ahead of the third T20I against Australia.
The 38-year-old last played for India in a T20I against England earlier this year. He then got injured in the IPL and wasn’t picked for the tour to the Caribbean and Sri Lanka. He was again picked for the T20I series against Australia but hasn’t featured in first 2 games.
Won’t play IPL too
The career of the pacer has been heavily marred by injuries and he didn’t stay in the side consistently for long. Even after having a career spanning 18 years, he played just 17 Tests, 120 ODIs and 26 T20Is. He has gone through several surgeries and finally, he will hang up the boots from the game.
It’s not just international cricket that he will leave but he will take no further part in the IPL as well. “If I have decided something, there is no going back. If I retire, I won’t even play the IPL,” Nehra added.
