Nehra: hopes high, feet on the ground

Catching up with India’s newest pace star Ashish Nehra — desperately seeking a nap after a hearty brunch — one can see a huge...

Catching up with India’s newest pace star Ashish Nehra — desperately seeking a nap after a hearty brunch — one can see a huge transformation from the time when the team had lost the game against Australia. The hunted, haunted look in the eyes has given way to an assertiveness, a confidence.

The head is held high, borne by the memory of those six wickets at Durban. But the humility remains, the feet are planted firmly on the ground. Nehra tries to underplay the role he’s played in the tournament. ‘‘There are days when one bowls exceptionally well but doesn’t get wickets and there are days when everything falls into place’’, he said.

The point he’s making is that his bowling at Durban against England and at Centurion against Pakistan were almost of the same variety, where he bowled a similar line and length. ‘‘But one can see the difference between them. In one spell I got six wickets and the other may not look all that great on the scoresheet,’’ he said.

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So what next? His answer was indicative of the confidence in the Indian camp: ‘‘I hope that we go all the way.’’

This isn’t just the confidence of a player who’s in-form from a side that is on a roll; there are others too who’d agree with what Nehra is saying. The former South African coach Bob Woolmer too feels that he ‘‘sees India going through till the final.’’ beyond that” ‘‘I wouldn’t like to say, the Australians have been in awesome form.’’

But Nehra insists with in case they meet the Aussies again the ‘‘scene would be different’’.