Life after retirement for Ashish Nehra: Maybe coaching or commentary

The retirement was elaborately planned but Ashish Nehra has not yet decided on life after active cricket even though he has narrowed down the options to coaching and commentary The final decision though will come in leisure for the man who has only done cricket throughout his life The 38yearold pacer bid adieu to competitive cricket after the first T20 International against New Zealand in front of his home crowd at the Feroz Shah Kotla last night I dont know what will come next I havent sat down and decide what to do next Maybe it will be coaching or maybe it will be commentary Nehra said of his futureIndias Ashish Nehra bowls against New Zealand during the first T20 match at Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium in New Delhi on Wednesday PicPTIA flood of memories came rushing back when Nehra was asked to bowl his last over in cricket from the very end he started bowling It definitely was an emotional moment Virat Kohli wanted me to bowl the final over after the 1516th over As a cricketer you shouldnt say this but by then the game was almost over India won the game by a comfortable margin of 53 runs and it was almost as good as over by the time the New Zealand innings reached the halfway stage Of course miracles do happen but today it seemed like it wasnt going to happen So I prepared myself to bowl the final over and it was an emotional moment I remember bowling my first over from that very end in 1997 against Haryana and Ajay Sharma was the captain standing at midoff Dont know where those 20 years went The lanky seamer acknowledged that he was lucky to be going on his own terms and in front of his home crowdI always felt that there is no bigger thing than to retire at the venue you want to play your last at It is definitely a lucky moment It is emotional that I will be giving up what Ive been doing for the past 20 years but there is life after this also Even the people in the current dressing room know that there is life after cricket Nehra said he is proud that he gave his best every time he came back from an injuryrelated layoff I am a simple guy I am happy where I am today and Imnot someone who believes in stats too much When youre young you think youre the King of the Jungle and youre not wrongBut in the last sixseven years I can say that whenever Ive come back to the dressing room I can say that I gave my best Still there are regrets there were injuries and that is true for everyone Even Sachin Tendulkar would have thought that he could have got another 5000 runs You are never satisfied in chasing your dreams But at the same time it is important to be realistic Nehra said he was asked to concentrate on Tests by former skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni and coach Gary Kirsten in 2009 but he was focussed on the 2011 World Cup In 2009 MS Dhoni and Gary Kirsten pushed me to play Test cricket but I maintained that let me play 2011 World Cup and then I will decide Now I can pass on my experience to new fast bowlers that I kept going despite so many injuries After 200708 I put a lot of effort I have seen a lot of ups and downs When youve seen a lot of success you dont know what failure is Now I have seen everything and I can help othersNehra called cricket a game of conditions one that has been evolving over the years and added that the IPL has given confidence to the youngsters Cricket is such a game that keeps evolving every few years Every team undergoes a transition phase as well When I started playing from 2001 till 20072008 Australia were the team to beat I remember the 2003 World Cup I thought I was bowling well but the likes of Matthew Hayden or Ricky Ponting were always a step ahead of youThe same way the bowlers would think theyre doing well but the likes of Virat Kohli or Rohit Sharma are step ahead of them Every team has a transition period It can be seen with Sri Lanka and West Indies Asked about the fast bowling scene in world cricket at the moment he spoke about the impact of conditions and howdifficult it has become for bowlers I will say if you are bowling well and at the top of your game you can still deliver Whether in T20 or Oneday you can see people like Jasprit Bumrah or Rabada or Bhuvneshwar Kumar or Jimmy Anderson in Test cricketRules have definitely changed Earlier days a team would score 200 runs in ODIs then 250 then 300 and now two new balls are used from both ends Its very difficult for a spinner also with five fielders inside the circle If you make it one new ball then this 350 will come down to 320310 make five fielders stand outside the circle and it will come down to 280