Ashish Nehra ruled out of IPL 2016; cricketing future in doubt

Sunrisers Hyderabad pacer Ashish Nehra has been ruled out of the IPL after sustaining a hamstring injury during the match against Kings XI Punjab on May 15. This injury has put the veteran left-arm bowler's return to competitive cricket in doubt.

A press release by the franchise stated, "Sunrisers Hyderabad spearhead, Ashish Nehra has sustained a significant hamstring tendon injury during the match against Kings XI Punjab on May 15, 2016.

"Ashish Nehra is now in consultation with a specialist orthopaedic surgeon for the most appropriate course of treatment to ensure a successful return to competitive cricket. Unfortunately, he will play no further part in the ninth edition of the Indian Premier League for Sunrisers Hyderabad,” the release further said.

It is said that usually a Grade-1 hamstring injury takes at least three weeks to heal and a hamstring tendon injury could take between 3-6 months including rehabilitation.

Nehra had made a comeback in the national T20 team for India's tour of Australia 2016, after being snubbed by the selectors for the tour of England in 2015. He also played in the Asia Cup and World T20 and was made India's main bowler at the age of 36. He is the key pacer in SRH's bowling attack, along with Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Barinder Sran and Mustafizur Rahman.

Nehra has played eight out of the 12 matches for Sunrisers this season, picking nine wickets at an economy rate of 7.65. His best bowling figures were 3/15 against Mumbai Indians on May 7, when he dismissed Rohit Sharma, Ambati Rayudu and Jos Buttler.

With almost no limited-overs match to look forward to, it will be interesting to see if the 37-year-old has the zeal to continue playing as there aren't many T20 internationals in the next one year. There have also been talks about Nehra taking over as the bowling coach with his vast knowledge in pace bowling and cordial relations with youngsters in the team.

Recently speaking to Times of India, he had said that he was surprised why the selectors hadn't picked him to play for the national team for so many years despite having performed well in domestic cricket.

He has played 17 Test matches, 120 ODIs and 23 T20 internationals, taking 44, 157 and 31 wickets respectively in these formats. He was named in the 'Team of the Tournament' after the World T20, as he bowled at an astounding economy of 5.94 on pitches that weren't favourable for pacers.