There is an unlikely name up there in the race for this season’s Indian Premier League (IPL) ‘Purple Cap’ for the highest wicket-taker — that of senior Indian paceman Ashish Nehra.
And this may have surprised the gawky bowler himself, usually remembered for the number of injuries that he has had than his bowling exploits.
At 36 years, the Delhi-based Nehra has been turning heads regularly as the attacking lynchpin for the unstoppable Chennai Super Kings in the eighth edition of the event. Table-toppers Super Kings have a virtually all-Indian pace bowling line-up, with Nehra leading the pack with the likes of Mohit Sharma and Ishwar Pandey with a haul of 13 wickets from seven matches — at an economy rate of 7.70.
It’s only the halfway stage of the tournament and one never knows when his frail frame will fail him, but it’s heartening to see that those lethal inswingers are back — the line is immaculate and so are the yorkers. The workload of four overs per match perhaps suits him the best at this stage of his career and he has turned out to be captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s go-to man for wickets.
No mean achievement this, for somebody who made his international debut as long ago as 16 years back — in the Asian Test Championship — bowling in the company of the likes of Javagal Srinath, Venkatesh Prasad and Anil Kumble. That was a year before the arrival of Zaheer Khan and Nehra was pitched to be the answer to the prayers for a left-arm seamer — although he often flattered to deceive.
There have been the occasional high points like the six for 23 against England in the 2003 World Cup in South Africa, where India famously made the final. Despite his wicket-taking abilities never being in question, erratic form and fitness woes have stood in the way of Nehra realising his potential — though the IPL seems to have served him well.
His best season so far was 2009, when, turning out for Delhi Daredevils, Nehra picked up 19 wickets from 13 games — a performance that saw him return to the India team after five years for an ODI tour of the West Indies. A few minor injuries soon followed, but Nehra managed to stick around and was also part of the World Cup-winning squad of 2011.
It’s worth recalling here that CSK coach Stephen Fleming had, on the eve of this IPL, stressed the benefits of having veterans like Michael Hussey and Nehra on the roster. The New Zealander felt Nehra still had “some life left” in him as a bowler and said the experience he can impart to younger bowlers will be of immense help.
If Fleming had then envisaged Nehra playing the role of a bowling mentor of sorts, the franchise has now got more than they had bargained for!
