The pacer, who missed most of IPL 3 due to injury, has recovered completely.
Left-arm pacer Ashish Nehra missed most of IPL-3 due to a rib injury. However, he is hopeful that the lack of match practice won’t hamper his performance. In fact, he is fit and raring to go as India get set to begin their campaign at the World Twenty20 against Afghanistan on Saturday.
Prior to the team’s departure, Nehra told DNA that he was looking forward to performing well. He also said that India have one of the best bowling line-ups.
“I may have not played most of the matches because of the injury, but I have played enough T20 and I know how and where to bowl. I am prepared to take on the tough challenge in the West Indies,” Nehra said before embarking on the 36-hour journey.
The 30-year-old veteran, who has played only two T20 games in India colours, feels that India’s attack — comprising Zaheer Khan, Praveen Kumar, Piyush Chawla, Harbhajan Singh and R Vinay Kumar besides him — is quite balanced and one of the best in the tournament.
“It is quite a balanced line-up with a perfect mix of youth and experience. There is a sense of responsibility in everyone and everyone has a role to play. There is Zaheer, PK, Bhajji and everyone has played in the World T20 before,” he added.
Nehra may have played only four games in IPL-3, but he is quite confident. “I played well in last year’s IPL. I was unlucky to miss most games this year. But I still took six wickets. In T20, you can’t judge a bowler by the number of wickets he takes. Right now, I am feeling good and raring to go. As far as the injury is concerned, I have recovered completely,” said Nehra who picked up the rib injury during a match in Mohali.
Nehra said the wickets in West Indies won’t be a problem for bowlers. “The wickets are same as in India with slow and low bounce. We know how to bowl on Indian wickets and hence, it won’t be an issue. The trick is to bowl smartly using variations. In T20, you need to take a wicket to two early on. That puts pressure on the batting side. The bowlers also need to stem the flow of runs,” he added.
Nehra is quite confident about India’s chances. “We are former champions and we have quite a balanced side to win the tournament. T20 is unpredictable. Luck also plays its part. Look at CSK, they were nowhere during the league stage. However, they went on to win the IPL. It is difficult to predict, but we will give our 100 per cent,” said the Delhi Daredevils player.
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