Ashish Nehra ended his career precisely the way he played it—with dignity and a simple lap of honour, waving to the Delhi crowd, his home crowd. It ended on a winning note with India registering a thumping victory against New Zealand in the first Twenty 20 International match at the Feroz Shah Kotla ground. Just as the team reached the new pavilion building, where his entire family and friends waited, his other Delhi teammates, Virat Kohli and Shikhar Dhawan, lifted him on their shoulders.
Earlier, as Nehra marked his run up and got ready to bowl his first over from the Delhi Gate end, named Ashish Nehra end for this match only, the packed Feroz Shah Kotla ground echoed with his name. It was a tidy first over where he conceded mere 5 runs which included a four by Martin Guptill, straight down the ground of a slowlish short ball. He almost ended with a wicket in the second over he bowled—that of Colin Munro—but Hardik Pandya spilled it. His swan song was marred by dropped catches as skipper Virat Kohli couldn't get a grasp by Kane Williamson in Nehra's third over.
His last over of his international career was also the last over of the match from the Old Club House end. The stadium lit up with mobile camera flashes. New Zealand number nine batsman Ish Sodhi faced the Delhi pacer—two dot balls, one four, a wide ball, a single and a dot ball to end. with. There was even a pitch invasion from a local fan who got away with a pat on his head as the fan touched Nehra's feet. The cops knew this was a special ending and didn't run in to nab the fan. India registered a thumping 53 runs victory over the Kiwis but the celebrations in the middle were not for that. His teammates walked towards him to hug and say 'well finished'.
Left arm seamer Nehra became one of the two Indian cricketers to be given a farewell match, that too, on his homeground. Sachin Tendulkar was the only other player who have been granted the rare honour when he called it quits in the Test series against West Indies in 2013 with his final innings at the Wankkhede Stadium in Mumbai. Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid, Anil Kumble, VVS Laxman and Virender Sehwag didn't get this honour.
Nehra looked as if he has had a sleepless night- sporting an overnight stubble. But judging Nehra's expressions in a match comes with a risk; they can be quite misleading. He was felicitated by Team India in the team huddle before the start of the match with former India captain M.S. Dhoni and current skipper Virat Kohli giving him a commemorative memento on behalf of the team
Apart from his family, friends and Delhi Ranji and Club teammates, he had also invited his childhood coach Tarak Sinha of Sonnet Club and former Delhi coach Bishen Singh Bedi to witness him don the Indian blue colours for the very last time.
The left arm seamer who forged a great partnership with yet another left arm pacer Zaheer Khan for India under Sourav Ganguly will forever be remembered for his 6/23 against England in the 2003 World Cup in Durban, South Africa. A physiologists' nightmare, his career spanning 18 years saw him in and out of the team due to injuries—one of main reasons that he was able to play only 17 Tests, 120 ODIs and 27 Twenty20 International matches despite this long career.
