Ashish Nehra is a cricketing mystery. Since his Test debut in the last millennium, he’s been in and out of the Indian team.
It’s almost incredible how a 38-year-old left-arm pacer can still make an Indian side. To fans, Nehra is a titanically gifted bowler with an injury prone body. Despite a nearly two decade career, he’s played only 163 international matches across all formats of the game.
This is mainly because he’s seen a lot of time away from the national team due to injury - he has undergone 12 surgeries. At one point, he was out of the ODI side for nearly four years between 2005 and 2009. Now, he hasn’t played an ODI since the 2011 World Cup semi-final against Pakistan.
A late career revival in T20 cricket has let him repeatedly break into the national side. The short four over bowling limit is perhaps best suited for his brittle body that still break down despite his attention to fitness.
Despite his god-given gift of making the ball swing both ways, Nehra has never been in the world top-ten rankings of any format. In ODIs and T20 cricket, he peaked at career high ranking of 12 during the 2003 World Cup and 2016 T20 World Cup.
When he has managed to play, he’s been able to take wickets. Shortly after his international T20 debut in 2009, he amassed 38 wickets in 2010 across formats - his best ever in a calendar year. Statistically, it was Nehra at the height of his powers.
But luck didn’t favour him. His injury during the 2011 World Cup left him out of the side. He didn’t play another international game for nearly five years.
At the beginning of his career, Nehra was touted to be the next generation of India’s pace attack. But his body and inconsistency never let him cement his place in the team. A far more consistent left-arm seamer in the form of Zaheer Khan was able to capitalise.
Khan was also plagued with injuries, but remained in the Indian side. Nehra was never able to skittle out opposition teams, but he outlasted all the left-arm pacers who debuted after him.
Among his contemporaries, he isn’t a wicket taking machine. He’s dismissed 233 batsman across all formats, slightly ahead of the Sachin Tendulkar, a batsman who amassed 201 wickets in his long career. Nehra, by no means, is statistically impressive.
Nehra’s career is nothing short of bizarre, he’s played under seven Indian captains. Virat Kohli being the latest addition to the illustrious list. And for the extensive number of years he’s been associated with the national team and its captains, he’s hardly played. It’s been 18 years since his debut. Only Tendulkar has had a longer tenure with the Indian team, but the little master played over 650 matches.
Nehra’s ability to continuously impress selectors could be attributed to his fitness. Something that Virender Sehwag stressed on in an interview recently.
It’s easy to be sceptical of Nehra. He has no gargantuan cricketing record to speak of. But judging by the way his career has played out, don’t be surprised if he’s still playing in the next decade.