Then & Now - Ashish Nehra & Virat Kohli in Pictures!

Yesterday, veteran Indian pace bowler Ashish Nehra retired from all forms of cricket, after the 1st T20I between India and New Zealand. There are two more games left in the series but he decided to bow out at his home ground – the Feroz Shah Kotla, in Delhi.

He believed it was the perfect way to hang up his boots – saying goodbye in front of his home crowd. Before the game, Indian captain Virat Kohli and former captain MS Dhoni presented Nehra with a memento, as a thank you for all his years of service to Indian cricket.

Remember, Ashish made his debut for India way back in 1999, against Sri Lanka. He had a injury ridden career, which kept him out for most of his years, but he was a fighter and was a part of the 2011 World Cup winning squad, even though his last test was played back in 2004.

NOW

To be a pace bowler at the age of 38 is making quite a statement!

Nehra kept battling and recovering from injuries to play cricket, only because he loved the game that much. Over his career spanning 20 years, he is said to have had around 12 surgeries, which includes rehab 12 times. He believes he could’ve pushed his body for a few more months or years, but believed bowing out at the Kotla was perfect!

And even if we don’t remember him for any particular bowling spell over the years, we will always remember him for that huge smile that he always wore on his face. There was also another image that went viral on the internet a while back, of Nehra presenting Kohli with an award, for a tournament played during Kohli’s school days:

THEN

The small boy in the image was soon to become India’s captain and select Nehra in the 1st T20 against New Zealand, which was scheduled to be Nehra’s last. Kohli ensured the crowd gave him a good send-off, after also giving Nehra to bowl the final over of the game!

The images above show how Nehra was around while so many different generations of cricket came and went. He’s played with the likes of Tendulkar, Dravid, Ganguly, and retired under captaincies of MS Dhoni and the current captain Virat Kohli.

He truly got a memorable send-off: