Having endured much pain in his 18-year-long injury-littered yet successful international career, Ashish Nehra said his body will be at peace as he bid adieu to international career at the Ferozshah Kotla on Wednesday night.
"I will miss all this. That's what you train for. One thing which will definitely be at peace will be my body. I said earlier that I can go a couple more years, but there can't be a better time to walk away," Nehra said after his swansong game in international cricket.
Read: India Send Off Ashish Nehra With First-Ever T20 Win Over NZ
Having announced that he was retiring from the game after this match, last month, Ashish Nehra was picked in the India XI that also saw Shreyas Iyer being handed his T20 debut hat.
With Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan both scoring 80 runs each, India posted a score of 202/3 in their 20 overs. In reply, New Zealand never really got their chase on track and needed 61 runs from the last over for which, Virat Kohli handed the ball to Ashish Nehra. Though he finished wicketless, the 38-year-old still finished the match with a smile on his face.
"I must be the one bowler who sent down the last over most number of times for India. But those times were different. There was no pressure today."
Asked about the 18 years he has spent in and out of the dressing room, this is what Nehra said: ‘I played my first game here in 1997. The rules have changed and so many runs are being scored. But whatever happens, this team is here to stay. The future of Indian cricket is in safe hands for the next six-seven years.’
Nehra said there are few moments that define cricketers and such moments also create ther image.
"I have played under many different people, but it has been a memorable journey. I was telling Viru also this; he scored so many runs, but people still call him Multan ka Sultan, so you are remembered for a particular moment," he said.
Nehra stopped playing Test cricket many years back but when asked about it, he said he had no regrets.
"At times, you pick up wickets off bad balls, but as a cricketer, you in front of a mirror need to realise how well you are playing and what you need to do. There are so many people who asked me if I would have liked to play Test cricket. But you can see the glass as half-full or half-empty.”
"I last played Test cricket when I was 24 or 25, but at the end, to have played for 18 years and to be here standing in blue clothing and to have played my final match, I could not have asked for anything more. I have no regrets. I am always happy, retired or otherwise."
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