Ashish Nehra reveals MS Dhoni convinced him to not pull out of World Cup 2011

Nehra wasn't sure if he could make it to the World Cup 2011 because of injuries.

By - 12 Aug, 2020

Fast bowler Ashish Nehra, who was part of India's 2011 World Cup-winning squad, wasn't ready to play the tournament because of injuries. But MS Dhoni, the then India captain, convinced him to be a part of the squad.

Nehra was suffering because of a bad back and he wanted to get replaced ahead of the tournament. But Dhoni suggested him to be patient and eventually, everything worked out well.

“Before the World Cup, I was struggling with a stiff back so much that at one point of time I thought I won’t play, I’ll leave,” Nehra said on Wisden’s Greatest Rivalry Podcast.

“I still remember Praveen Kumar or one other fast bowler got injured and Sreesanth was his replacement. I told MS Dhoni and Sachin Tendulkar that I don’t think I’ll play the World Cup before I was really struggling and it’s better to get a replacement.

“And Dhoni tells me ‘listen, just hang in there for another two-three weeks. See how you feel. Be with the physio, sort it out with him, wait for two-three weeks and then we’ll see how it goes.”

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Nehra was part of only three matches for India in the World Cup, and one out of those was the semifinal against Pakistan where he picked 2/33.

“Then I started playing one game at a time. I played against Holland, had a bad game against South Africa, and then missed one. The semifinal comes. I play, we win, I had a good game but again missed the final,” Nehra said.

“I had a massive fracture. The day after the final itself, I left for Australia for surgery. It was very disappointing but it was satisfying as well that we won the final, we won the World Cup. It was a roller-coaster ride for me but in the end, I did manage to land safely.”

Nehra didn't feature for the Indian cricket team in ODIs after semifinal against Pakistan. He did manage to make a comeback in T20Is and played the 2016 T20 World Cup under Dhoni.

(Quotes from Wisden’s Greatest Rivalry Podcast )

By - 12 Aug, 2020

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