Ashish Nehra will be playing his last for India, or even his final game if he is selected in the playing XI for the opening T20 against New Zealand this week. The match which will be played at the Feroz Shah Kotla in Delhi, his home ground, where he made his debut in Ranji Trophy, will be the most befitting exit for the left arm seamer. “It's always good to retire when people are asking 'Why' rather than 'Why Not?' I always wanted to retire on a high. Can't get bigger than playing in Delhi and retiring there. It is a way forward and there is no bigger tournament coming,” he said.
Nehra also made sure that he will quit entirely and not even stick around to play the IPL as most retired players do. “I was always mentally strong. Whenever I was training, I was training to play for India. I am that sort of a person that I train day in, day out just to play for India. I know that I am retiring in November, there are five months and I can easily play the IPL or I could have played another year of international cricket also. But that's my decision, once I leave, I will leave. I won't even play the IPL.”
Nehra made his international debut in 1999 when he played Sri Lanka in a Test match. His ODI debut came in 2001 against Zimbabwe, where he made an impact, later performing exceptionally at the 2003 World Cup in South Africa. There, he gave his best ODI figures of 6/23 against England in an exhibition of fine swing bowling. In the tournament, he delivered a 149.7 km/hour deliveri, the fastest an Indian bowler had ever bowled at that time. Another noteworthy moment in his career was in the 2011 World Cup when he produced a remarkable spell to lead India to the final.
