Ashish Nehra on his retirement: It is not 'fake news', always wanted to quit on a high

Veteran Indian paceman Ashish Nehra today (October 12) confirmed that he will retire from all forms of cricket after a Twenty20 International on November 1.

Ahead of India's 3rd T20I against Australia in Hyderabad tomorrow (October 13), the 38-year-old told reporters that he had decided to "retire on a high".

Yesterday (October 11), Nehra's retirement news was in the media with a BCCI official confirming about the speedster's impending decision.

When he was asked at today's pre-match press conference about the same, he said it is not "fake news".

"Before I could say, that news has come. But it is not fake news. I have decided that (to retire). It is my own decision. I am lucky enough, God is kind. I have spoken to the team management and the chairman (MSK Prasad) of selection committee," Nehra said.

Nehra did not find a place in India's Playing XI in the opening two games of the ongoing T20I rubber against Australia. The three-match rubber is level 1-1.

The Delhi bowler, who was part of India's 2011 World Cup squad, said he wanted to leave the game in front of his home fans in Delhi. India and New Zealand are set to play the opening T20I of a three-match series on November 1 and Nehra has chosen this contest to bid adieu to international cricket.

"That game (T20I) has come in Delhi (on November 1). You cannot get a bigger game than that. You can retire in front of your home crowd, where I played my first Ranji Trophy game 20 years back," Nehra, who made his international debut way back in 1999, said.

Nehra said he had made up his mind about retirement after looking at impressive performances of Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah.

"Cricket has taught me so much. Whatever I am today, it is because of cricket. There is no particular reason. Every cricketer knows about (retirement) time. It is not that I took this decision overnight. I have given it a good thought after looking at the performances over the last five-six months of Bhuvneshwar Kumar and (Jasprit) Bumrah," he explained.

Nehra revealed that he had come prepared for Australia T20I series and wanted to be in the Playing XI but could not. He said he had spoken to both captain Virat Kohli and coach Ravi Shastri that he wanted to play.

"When I came into this series (versus Australia), I had prepared well. I came to play the series. Straightaway I spoke to captain (Virat Kohli) and coach (Ravi Shastri), told them whenever Ashish Nehra plays he is in the XI and not sit out," he said.

He also confirmed that he will not play next year's Indian Premier League (IPL). He was with Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH).

When asked whether he will become a coach, he said, "I have not thought about it yet. All options are open - be it coaching, mentoring or commentary. I will decide. As of now I have planned only till 1st of November."

He said his focus was always on India comeback and not about IPL. "I was always mentally strong. Whenever I used to train, I trained to play for India. Lot of people told me that I can still IPL. But I am that sort of a person, I train day in and day out just to play for India.

"Not that I retire in November there are five months in between and can easily play IPL. But I can easily have played another one year of international cricket also. But my decision is once I leave, I leave. I won't even play IPL. The last two years have been great.

"For me the true measure of success is how many times you bounce back from failures. I have had 12 surgeries and those have made me mentally strong. It will help me in future too," he said.

Ashish Nehra has played 17 Tests (44 wickets), 120 ODIs (157 wickets) and 26 T20Is (34 wickets) for India. He made his international debut in Colombo, in a Test against Sri Lanka in 1999. He was part of India's 2011 World Cup winning squad.