Ashish Nehra

Full Name                  : Ashish Nehra 

Date of Birth               : 29th April 1979

Place of Birth              : Delhi, India 

Batting Style                : Right-Handed 

Bowling Style              : Left-Arm Fast-Medium 

Test Debut (cap 17)    : 24th February 1999 v Sri Lanka 

ODI Debut (cap 117)  : 21st June 2001 v Zimbabwe 

Ashish Nehra  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.  Ashish Nehra  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.  Ashish Nehra  performance in the other matches in the World Cup were also noteworthy.

However inconsistency and successive back and ankle injuries have prevented him from cementing his place in the Indian team.  Ashish Nehra  career statistics are better in ODI cricket than in Test cricket, but with 144 ODI wickets at an average of 30.54 his average is higher(lesser the best) 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 Munaf Patel, RP Singh and Ishant Sharma also add to the competition. Nevertheless, Nehra completed recovery from a bowel injury in March 2006 and is trying to make a comeback into the Indian team.

Ashish Nehra hit the headlines with creditable showings in the second season of the IPL, and was recalled to the ODI squad for the tour of West Indies in June 2009 after 4 years due to an injury to Zaheer Khan.

In 2011 Cricket World Cup, Nehra played his first game vs South Africa.  Ashish Nehra  was expensive giving away 65 runs during 8.4 wicketless overs.  Ashish Nehra  gave away 16 runs in 4 balls when he had to defend 13 runs in the last over. After this, many thought Nehra's world cup was over. he however was a surprise inclusion against Pakistan in the semi-final ahead of Ravichandran Ashwin. Nehra redeemed himself by being the most economical bowler for his side taking 2 wickets in 10 overs for a mere 33 runs as India beat Pakistan by 29 runs.  Ashish Nehra  however could not play the final due to a fractured finger on his right hand.

IPL 

After recovering from the ankle injury that prevented him from playing for the Delhi Ranji Team in the 2007-08 season, Nehra joined the Indian Premier League and signed up for the Mumbai Indians franchise.  Ashish Nehra  won the Man of the Match for the game versus Rajasthan Royals taking three wickets on 7 May 2008.  Ashish Nehra  plays for the Delhi DareDevils from 2009.  Ashish Nehra  was picked up by Sahara Pune Warriors in the latest 2011 IPL Players Auction for a sum of Rs. 3.91 crores. Nehra was ruled out of IPL-4 for first few matches due to a fractured finger on his right hand.