The daily routine didn’t see the slightest alteration — an intense session at the gym was followed by some pampering at the masseur’s table. Even as news of his comeback in the Indian team was flashing on the television, Ashish Nehra went about his business with a hint of nonchalance. After a career punctuated with injuries, Nehra took a piece of advice on fitness from Zaheer Khan and Virender Sehwag to his heart and has been following it religiously. And it has paid off, ending the left-arm seamer’s four-year wait.

Keeping in shape

“Zak and Viru always kept telling me how I would make a comeback into the Indian team. Zak, especially, told me that I just needed to keep training hard and keep myself in prime shape because if I managed to do so, my bowling would automatically get me a place in the team. I heeded to it. I managed to keep myself fit through the IPL and got people to notice my bowling.

“Normally, two people who practise the same trade don’t get along well because of the cut-throat competition, but with me and Zak, it’s different, we are very good friends,” he says.

Ironically, Zaheer or Sehwag will not be along with him on the West Indies tour, opting out to recuperate from niggles. “Yes, but Bhajji (Harbhajan) and Yuvi (Yuvraj) will be there, it will be good fun to be with them in the dressing room again,” says Nehra.

Back in the squad, he aims to pick up from where he had left off. And he wants his No 64 jersey back. “I got a call from the board’s office asking for my preference of jersey number. I told them I have always played with number 64, and I won’t change that. I want to be the same man in the Indian team, who used to bowl the fastest and who was India’s best death-over bowler,” he says.

... contd.