Ashish Nehra’s unforgettable career moments: Beyond the Durban legend of 2003 World Cup

Ashish Nehra with his teammates after his retirement from all forms of cricket during the first T20 match against New Zealand at Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium in New Delhi, on Wednesday. Express Photo by Praveen Khanna. 01.11.2017.

Last over frenzy
For someone who was the primary nominee for bowling the final over in tense finishes and made a career out of it, Nehra could get into quite a frenzy. Funnily, it was not when he had conceded a boundary or been hit for runs. It was instead when the batsman had missed the ball and it had landed safely in the wicketkeeper’s gloves. It’s then that Nehra would get extremely animated. There he would be, stood in the middle of the pitch frantically waving his hands towards the wicketkeeper and demanding the ball as if the result of the match and his life itself depended on its swiftest recovery. It didn’t matter that the batsmen hadn’t even thought of running across to steal a single. It would be as if Nehra was creating this false sense of panic or urgency for perhaps the batsmen, his team or himself. And then he would also bowl the canniest last over possible and win his team the match.

PHOTOS: Ashish Nehra’s career in pictures

Octopus with pads
Nehra’s batting was all limbs—not Laxman-like or even Ashwin-like. But Nehra-like. His long arms whirled around, the bat weaved random patterns in the air, and the feet seemed to whir in twitchy anticipation of a searing yorker at his toes. The already shrunken face would shrink further in focus as he waited for the bowler, his bat already down on the ground, its sole intention seemingly to protect his toes. In the second innings in Bloemfontein, Shaun Pollock tried it several times, and Nehra was more than equal to the task, in fact even squeezed him through point for a boundary. Then came Jacques Kallis, who straightaway attempted a yorker. It wasn’t quite yorker-length, but Kallis was still pacy and dead-eye accurate. But it didn’t matter, as if all the tail-end entertainers ever care for lengths. Nehra just plonked his front foot and lifted the ball straight over the sight-screen with one fluid swing of his blade. Just like that, without any appreciable effort or exaggerated flourish. Nehra removed his helmet and flashed that sheepish smile of his at partner Javagal Srinath. The quintessence of his batting was that sheepish smile, whether he stroked a boundary or was beaten. And of course, the whirling limbs.

Ashish Nehra and Rajat Bhatia of Delhi team take a break during the Ranji trophy match against Karnatka at Ferozeshah Kotla stadium in New Delhi on Dec 31st 2013. Express photo by Ravi Kanojia.

Unquotable quotes
In these post-ironic world, as Pico Iyer wrote, where we judge personalities by how convincingly they deliver their unconvincing lines, Nehra was refreshingly natural. Sample this press conference before a Bangladesh game during last T20 world cup. There was social media furore over the ‘mauka mauka’ campaign that had mocked Bangladesh fans, and Nehra was asked for a reaction. “You are asking this question to the wrong person because I am somebody who is not on social media and I am still using my old Nokia. So I am not on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram. I don’t read newspapers. Maybe, I am from the old school.” May be? Seriously? Gifted an iPhone recently by his wife, he has now discovered WhatsApp. Swipe to answer or decline calls, and text on WhatsApp—that’s his technological evolution. What a legend!

Jasprit Bumrah and Ashish Nehra during the practice session ahead of the T20 match played against England in Nagpur. (Express archive photo. 27.01.2017.)

Fitness test regular
The two team buses, the groundsmen, the television production unit, and even the Durban NRIs, had left Kingsmead. The sun too was calling it a day. Journalists in the press box had filed their stories, shut down their lap tops and sent ‘nothing more today’ message to their offices. But still on the field were Ashish Nehra and coach John Wight, and a sorry-looking single stump. It was the World Cup, it was February 25, 2003 – a day before Nehra’s 6/23. A couple of days back, against Namibia, Nehra had slipped; injured his ankle and finished with unfortunate figures of 0.1-0-0-0. Wright looked desperate, he wanted Nehra to be fit; the grassy Kingsmead pitch being the reason. For close to an hour, Nehra would run in and bowl. Wright, standing behind the single stump, would collect the ball in his baseball glove. Once in a while, the two would meet midway for a chat. The pacer would put his weight on the dodgy ankle, to assess pain. Wright looked on anxiously. Even a day before he would bowl his career-best spell, Nehra wasn’t niggle-free or a playing XI certainty. Cricket, for the pacer with a fragile tag, would always remain a game of inglorious uncertainties. His biggest battles were mostly on non-match days with coaches, physios and trainers at the non-striker’s end. Pain and anxiety were constant roommates for the man who might be holding the record for giving most fitness tests, and passing them too. A few months ago, he cleared his last fitness test too— it was called, like his career, a yo-yo test.

Cricketer Ashish Nehra at Lodhi hotel in New Delhi on May 15th 2015. Express photo by Ravi Kanojia.

Reluctant fielder
Should the BCCI ever institute one, Ashish Nehra will be a strong contender for India’s Worst Fielder of the Century award, having put together an unenviable — and often comical— body of work over a 18-year-long career. That, however, didn’t stop him from pursuing excellece in the field. Or to put it another way, from pursuing others to pursue exellence in the field. Especially, when he was bowling. One of the LOL moments, if not a POL (play-it-loud) moment, is when he gives a young MS Dhoni, playing only his second international series, a piece of his mind when he fails to catch a Shahid Afridi edge that races away for four. That the reprieve comes after Nehra has been carted for a six off the previous ball only makes it worse for Dhoni. Nehra froths at the mouth, and the blood drains from Dhoni’s face. A decade later, Dhoni would have forgiven and forgetten the yelling, taking Nehra in the Chennai Super Kings squad, giving his career another lease. But, YouTube has ensured we won’t forget this Nehra moment anytime.