It won't be wrong to compare India fast bowler Ashish Nehra with wine. Like the beverage, Nehra is getting better with age.
At 38, the Delhi pacer is still the most sought-after bowler. Ask Virat Kohli or David Warner and they won't shy away from giving the new ball and the old to the veteran.In Mumbai for Wednesday's IPL game against Mumbai Indians, the Sunrisers Hyderabad bowler admitted that it was due to Twenty20 cricket that he has been given the second lease of life and helped him prolong his cricket career.
"Not only me but if you see so many players who have done well in IPL or T20 and it has given them confidence and they could extend their careers. When India initially picked players like Yusuf Pathan or Ravindra Jadeja, they were doing well in the IPL in 2008-09, so it does help."And for somebody like me who doesn't play Test cricket, it gives me motivation. And not only IPL, I am playing for India also, so you can't get a bigger motivation than that.
Twenty20 cricket and IPL definitely helped me," Nehra said on Tuesday.
As a player, Nehra was aware of the fact that he has to be at the top of his fitness if he has to continue doing what he has done over the years."For me, recovery is as important as training. If I say it doesn't make a difference, at my age I will be lying. At the age of 38, not only fast bowlers but even for a batsman it becomes difficult. You have to put in extra yards even for recovery or training or practice and that is what I have been doing. I have my routine which I follow and it is helping."
Nehra has played for a lot of franchises in IPL, and he is enjoying the challenge of being a pro."As a professional cricketer you adapt. In the first year when I played for Mumbai Indians, it was a long time back. Every franchise was different, every franchise has a different way of looking at the game or a different set up but like I said as a professional cricketer you have to get used to it. If you see all soccer players, every two seasons they play for a different club, so we are used to this."
Nehra has trained his guns on the forthcoming Champions Trophy in England in June. "It is necessary that they will be looking for a left-arm seamer. And, it is not that I am on trial. Everybody knows what I can do if I am fit. If the team management, the captain and coach want me and if I am ready and raring to go, and if I am fit then definitely I will play."
