Ashish Nehra
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Source: [1], 4 February 2006 |
Ashish Nehra (born April 29, 1979 in Delhi) is an Indian cricketer (left-arm fast bowler) who has represented India at the international level since 1999. Nehra started playing first-class cricket for his hometown, Delhi, in the 1997/1998 season and made his Test debut against Sri Lanka at Colombo in 1999 and his ODI debut against Zimbabwe at Harare in 2001. On his Test debut, Nehra started out well, dismissing Marvan Atapattu early but then failed to pick up any more wickets. Similarly, he dismissed Alistair Campbell with only his 2nd ball in ODIs. He was also part of the Indian team's run at the 2003 World Cup in South Africa. It was there against England, that he got his career-best ODI figures of six for 23 and after bowling, threw up at the side of the pitch after eating a banana. His performance in the other matches in the World Cup were also noteworthy. He was also the only Indian bowler who had an economy rate of less than 6 runs an over during the finals of the World Cup when Australia racked up 359. His delivery timed at 149.7 km/h during the World Cup 2003 is widely regarded as the fastest ever delivery bowled by a left armer in one day internationals.
However inconsistency and successive back and ankle injuries prevent him from cementing his place in the Indian team. His career statistics are better in ODI cricket than in Test cricket, but with 92 ODI wickets at an average of 31.07 his average is higher than all three of his main competitors for fast bowling places in the Indian team - Irfan Pathan, Zaheer Khan and Ajit Agarkar, who all have bowling averages below 30. The new crop of fast bowlers like Sreesanth, Munaf Patel and Ishant Sharma also add to the competition. Nevertheless, Nehra completed recovery from a back injury in March 2006 and is trying to make a comeback into the Indian team.
IPL
After recovering from the ankle injury that prevented him from playing for the Delhi Ranji Team in the 2007-08 season[1], Nehra joined the Indian Premier League and signed up for the Mumbai Indians franchise[1]. He won the Man of the Match for the game versus Rajasthan Royals taking three wickets on 7th May, 2008.
References
- ^ a b "Nehra for Mumbai Indians, Mishra for Delhi". Cricinfo. 2008-03-14. Retrieved 2008-04-21.
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External links
