Indian fast-bowlers should not be rested in the IPL, opines Ashish Nehra

Indian fast-bowlers should not be rested in the IPL, opines Ashish Nehra

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Ashish Nehra has stated that World Cup-bound fast-bowlers should not be rested in the Indian Premier League and added that it is a wrong thought process. Many cricket teams, which will participate in the ICC World Cup, have decided to rest their lead players either partially or fully for the IPL.

With almost two-month-long Indian Premier League (IPL) set to start from March 23rd, many teams, which will take part in the ICC Cricket World Cup, have already decided to make their premier World Cup-bound players to skip the latter part of the IPL. With the clamour getting louder by the day to even rest Indian fast-bowlers so that they can come out fresh for the World Cup, Ashish Nehra asserted that it is a wrong thought process to think to rest the Indian pacers.

“I think it is a wrong thought-process to rest the World Cup-bound fast bowlers during the IPL,” Nehra told Mumbai Mirror in an interview. 

“No matter how much training you do, you need match practice. If a bowler himself feels he needs rest, then that is a different matter. In my view, they should play [at least] 8-10 IPL games. It will be helpful for the World Cup.”

Nehra even went out to give his own example citing how he got injured just ahead of the ICC Cricket World Cup Final 2011 which India won. The left-arm pacer also stated that players can get injured in all types of manners, hence justifying not to rest the Indian pacers for the IPL.

“In the 2011 World Cup, I got injured in the semi-final against Pakistan. You can get injured in practice too, or even in the first match of the World Cup. We will have a couple of weeks between the IPL and the World Cup, which is sufficient to recover from niggles.”

In recent times, the Indian fast bowling strength has improved and in that vein, Nehra said that the Indian team will need a battery of pacers in order to be ready for the World Cup.  

“You will need a pool of fast bowlers because the World Cup is in England and there are two new balls,” he said. “I think Shami and Umesh can do well. Shami is a good one-day bowler."

There are not many ODI games left for India to decide on their final fast-bowling line-up as the World Cup is scheduled to start from May 30th. Hence expressing his opinion on the matter Nehra stated his top choices and expressed that there are bowlers like Khaleel Ahmed and Siraj who are not yet experienced enough to give India enough stability. 

“If you ask me, Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar and Shami will be my top three choices, and you can then pick one out of Khaleel Ahmed, Mohammed Siraj and Umesh.

“It is too early to say if Khaleel is ready for the World Cup. There will be pressure there. Khaleel and Siraj are not too experienced and can panic. Shami is an experienced guy. You also have to keep in mind injuries, of course. As of now, only Bumrah and Bhuvneshwar are certainties,” he added.

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