Nehraji & the mug-teeth smile!

Photo credit: <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/royalchallengers/5682637991/">Royal Challengers Bangalore</a> via <a href="https://visualhunt.com/re/32c3fb">VisualHunt.com</a> / <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/"> CC BY-NC-SA</a>

So #AshishNehra has called it quits, on an 18+ year career, which saw him doling out some very memorable performances, battling constant ankle and knee injuries, almost giving up mid way through his career, and finally reinventing himself as a T20 specialist bowler in cricket.

What one typically liked about Nehraji; as he was/is lovingly called, was his never-say-die spirit and his tenacity to egg on, in spite of not being blessed with the best of physiques. 

He burst into the scenes, just before the turn of the century, as a tall, lanky fast bowler from Delhi circuit, who ran in gingerly, with a hustling bustling action and gave the ball a good rip! He was always prone to injuries, so he never had a long run throughout the year, however took whatever opportunities came his way! 

What can be out-marked here, and I feel a lot of people would agree that the Zimbabwe series in 2001, followed by India's brilliant performance in the 2003 World Cup, were a few of his peak performances during the first half of the 2000s. He made the English batsmen hop, skip and take evasive action during the South African edition of the Cricket World Cup, and I remember staying up late into the night, watching his performance and clapping lividly. #classbowling 

While Test matches and long bowling spells weren't his forte, his focus on bowling short spells in ODIs and T20 cricket worked to his advantage in the latter part of the 2000s and much into the 2010s too! 

He had a major part to play in India's 2011 victorious World Cup campaign, battling stress fractures, dodgy knees, ankle twists and high dosage painkillers, to give his performance of a lifetime. 

Much later, i.e., he became a T20 specialist, pulling out matching winning performances for India, and even franchise-based cricket (Indian Premier League). His performance as a bowler in his late 30s, made him a cult figure, and thanks to his witty jokes and humor, was a dream team mate to have in any set-up. 

We'd all love to see, what's in store for Nehraji, in his second innings, after the cricket frenzy settles. It definitely looks like he could start a cricket academy, take up coaching or even end up in the commentator's box, chortling some insipid one-liners to keep TV audiences entertained! 

Till then, much respect to the man, who kept on trying, and had a positive impact on left arm fast bowling, Indian and World Cricket! 

Keep replaying his airplane celebration in your minds. He kept soaring high, no matter what! #AshishNehra in full flow, was a delight to watch! 

Nehraji, the mug-teeth smile, the celebration and pace/swing left armed bowling will be remembered, for sure! 

#NehrajiKeKamaalKaarnaame by @harryrockerz