Nehra returns after a 4-year lay off, Nayar lone new face

Nowadays, it is not easy for a pacer to make a comeback to international cricket after being out of reckoning for a few years, but Ashish Nehra has just done that. Four years after he last turned out for India and a good 10 years since he made his international debut, Nehra has found his way into the side after working hard to recover from injuries.

Dogged by breakdowns since his early years on the domestic circuit, one does not remember Nehra being dropped from any team, for non-performance. It has always been some injury or the other that has kept him out, including after his last ODI against New Zealand at Harare in September 2005.

Even though he was reputed to produce more wicket taking deliveries than his contemporaries, he was restricted to the bench for a stretch of 10 Test matches in 2004-05, as the team management feared he would not be able to shoulder the burden when only two pace bowlers were being played.

Over the years, injuries to both his ankles as well as the back and left wrist, have denied him a continuous run and he has always been quick to point out that the breaks have not been due to fitness problems. “I have had to work extra hard because of my injuries. It has been my mental toughness that has seen me through the tough times,” Nehra said after his recent success in the Indian Premier League (IPL) that earned him a ticket to the West Indies.

Nehra is one of those rare left-arm bowlers with the ability to move the ball both ways, that too in the air as well as off the pitch. He is also as comfortable with the old ball as with the new and there has never been any doubt about Nehra’s wicket-taking capability, best exemplified by his match-winning six for 23 versus England in the 2003 World Cup match at Durban.

The Delhi player has gone under the scalpel on many occasions and has consulted various experts in India, England and South Africa over the years. He also remembers as fruitful the time he spent with top German sports medicine expert Hans-Wilhelm Mueller Wohtfahrt, who was a consultant with Bayern Munich for a number of years.

Nehra has made it back from oblivion due to his 19 wickets in 13 IPL matches this year, but one will have to wait and see how long he manages to fend off the next impending injury. As for success, it is bound to come as long as he is fit.