New Delhi: India's old war-horse Ashish Nehra got a fitting farewell game as India thrashed New Zealand by 53 runs at the pacer's home ground in Delhi on Wednesday. (As it happened)
Nehra, who was given the honours to bowl the last over the match, said that his body is at peace, and left Indian cricket in good hands.
"I will miss all this. That's what you train for," he said after the match.
Skipper Virat Kohli used the 38-year-old pacer judiciously, giving him breaks between the spells. In his four overs' spell, Nehra conceded 29 runs without success. Watch Nehra's final over in international cricket, courtesy BCCI:
Ashish Nehra's final over in international cricket https://t.co/SCGmb9vjPy #BCCI
— Cricket-atti (@cricketatti) November 1, 2017
Enjoying the match, the veteran seamer even had a footie moment when he stopped a certain boundary with one of his feet in the dying moments of the game. The video, shared by the BCCI, went viral.
"One thing which will definitely be at peace will be my body. I said earlier that I can go a couple more years, but there can't be a better time to walk away. I must be the one bowler who sent down the last over most number of times for India," he added.
India continued to play brilliant cricket. Put into bat first, Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan scored identical scores of 80s in a record opening stand for India. They added 158 runs in 16.2 overs.
Then, Kohli and MS Dhoni gave finishing touches to the innings as India scored 202 for 3 in their 20 overs.
The batting show was followed by bowlers doing their job. Spinners Axar Patel and Yuzvendra Chahal led the attack with two wickets each; while Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah and Hardik Pandya taking one wicket each.
"The future of Indian cricket is in safe hands for the next six-seven years. I have played under many different people, but it has been a memorable journey. I was telling Viru also this; he scored so many runs, but people still call him Multan ka Sultan, so you are remembered for a particular moment," he added.
After the match, Kohli and Dhawan hoisted Nehra and carried the veteran Delhi statemate on their shoulders during the lap of honour.
In a career plagued by injuries, Nehra played 17 Tests, 120 ODIs and 27 T20Is for India, picking up 44, 157 and 34 wickets respectively.
Nehra made India debut in a Test match against Sri Lanka at Colombo in February, 1999.
