Ashish Nehra reveals the reason behind his comeback

New Delhi: Veteran India pacer Ashish Nehra has credited his Indian Premier League (IPL) stint with Sunrisers Hyderabad as the reason for his call-up into the national side.

Nehra, 38, played last played for India in February. On Monday (October 2), he was named in the 15-member squad for the upcoming three-match T20I series against Australia.

“I performed well in the last IPL so I think the selectors must have seen that. I don’t feel I will be out of sorts against Australia. They inquired whether I would be able to play the Twenty20 series and I said yes. These days, I cannot play all formats, but I think I will be able to deliver in the forthcoming series,” Mid-Day quoted Nehra him as saying.

The selectors' decision to include the veteran bowler failed to impress some section of fans, but a BCCI official privy to selection matters told PTI on condition of anonymity that "Ashish Nehra played the last full T20 series against England earlier this year. He was in contention to play Champions Trophy but an injury during IPL put paid to his hopes. India's last two T20s were one-off games against West Indies and Sri Lanka, so Ashish wasn't picked."

Nehra has played 26 T20Is for India, taking 34 wickets. And he still commands respect from the world's best batsmen, a fact which was reflected in his IPL outings for Hyderabad.

He then took a break from cricket to undergo a knee surgery after the IPL.

“I am taking it match-by-match, series by series. I think I will be able to bowl my quota of four overs to the best of my ability. I am fortunate to have (Jasprit) Bumrah and Bhuvi (Bhuvneshwar Kumar) in the pace department. Bumrah is the best in limited-overs business and the way he has bowled, he can be tried in Tests too,” Nehra added.