MS Dhoni-led India ended the country's 28-year wait for an ODI World Cup title. Dhoni hitting the match-winning six in the final is still etched in the memory of the fans and it can easily be rated as one of the most iconic moments in Indian cricket's history. The team was full of match-winners and the players would have been eager to win another World Cup.
But the same set of players never played together. In fact, few players never represented India in an ODI again. Ashish Nehra was among the players who lost his spot in Team India. The senior pacer missed the all-important final due to a fractured finger.
Nehra, who played 2 ODI World Cups, was forgotten about and the selectors never considered him the next five years .The veteran pacer continued to play IPL and also represented Delhi in domestic cricket. But a comeback never seemed to be on the cards.
Nehra played for CSK under MS Dhoni
Ashish Nehra joined Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and played under MS Dhoni's captaincy in IPL 2014 and 2015. He worked closely with the former national captain and this probably worked in his favour. Nehra made his return for the T20I series against Australia early in 2016. He scalped 22 wickets in IPL 2015. He played 4 matches in 2014.
Nehra's return bolstered India's inexperienced pace attack and he went on to play the Asia Cup and the 2016 T20 World Cup. India lost to West Indies in the semi-final of the ICC event.
Return and retirement
After being away from Team India for nearly a year, Nehra made his return to the T20I team for the home series against England early in 2017 under Virat Kohli's captaincy. But later that year, he announced his retirement and played his farewell match in front of his home crowd in Delhi. Nehra bowled the final over in his last game against New Zealand.
Nehra finished his career with 17 Test, 120 ODI and 27 T20I caps. His career was marred by injuries and he missed plenty of action. He took up coaching and commentary after retirement. In 2022, Nehra became the first Indian head coach in IPL's history to win the elusive title. Nehra-coached Gujarat Titans (GT) defeated Rajasthan Royals in the final. He is still associated with GT.