Ashish Nehra feels MS Dhoni is the best Indian captain in pressure situations

Veteran Indian fast bowler Ashish Nehra, who made a dream comeback to the Indian national team, has hailed skipper MS Dhoni as the best Indian captain in “pressure situations.” He has also rued the fact that he didn’t respond to the feelers that the captain sent him related to a comeback into the test squad in 2009.

Nehra has scripted a memorable return in the Indian team in the shortest format of the game and impressed all with his performances in the Asia Cup and the ICC T20 World Cup 2016. He was one of the best bowlers in the tournament and also earned a place in the ‘Team of the Tournament’.

He picked up 5 wickets and used his wealth of experience to contain the batsmen from scoring big against him. He was the leader of the Indian bowling attack and he was seen giving his useful tips to the young bowlers like Bumrah, Pandya in the World Cup.

Nehra at the age of 36 is proving that age is just a number with his exemplary performances on the field.

Cool under pressure

Praising his skipper Dhoni, Nehra said during a television show, "Right from my debut under Mohammed Azharuddin (in 1999), I have played under so many captains but when it comes to remaining cool and delivering under pressure, Mahendra Singh Dhoni is the best. I have not seen anyone who can remain so cool under pressure."

However, Nehra’s biggest regret is that he could not play more than 17 test matches. Given his calibre, it is surely a disappointing figure. Nehra lamented, “ In 2009, Dhoni and the then coach Gary Kirsten had asked me if I would like to make a Test comeback. I was around 30-31 then and should have responded positively but I was not very sure. When I look back, only two years back, at the age of 35, I had played six four-day matches in six weeks. So when I look back, I feel I should have played more than 17 Test matches."

Comparison between Dhoni and Ganguly

When he was asked about the comparison between two of India’s greatest skippers of all time Sourav Ganguly and MS Dhoni, Nehra said that when they played under Ganguly, players like Zaheer Khan, Virender Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh and himself were all very young and for them Ganguly’s orders were ultimate as he had more experience than all of them.

Talking about his stint under MS Dhoni, he said that when he made a comeback under him in 2009 he was more mature and could understand and relate to Dhoni’s philosophy of captaincy. He described his tenure under Dhoni as an enjoyable experience.

Nehra backed his skipper when he was asked about Dhoni’s recent outbursts in the media which are so uncharacteristic of Dhoni. Known to be ‘Captain Cool’, Dhoni lost his cool at the post-match press conference after India’s thrilling one-run win over Bangladesh in the ICC T20 World Cup 2016. Dhoni also took a sarcastic jibe at the Indian media after his side’s loss against the West Indies in the semi-final.

Nehra stood firmly by his skipper’s side and said, “How many times have you seen Dhoni lose his cool. It's also about how you ask a particular question. On personal front, what is being written in papers has never bothered me as I don't read them or watch news on television. I don't even watch cricket on television. I rarely give interviews or press statements."

The camaraderie between the two is simply outstanding and it seems that the pacer has immense respect for India’s current limited-overs skipper.