Arrey badi purani baat hai (It's a very old story)," says Ashish Nehra when asked about his Durban connection. "I'm surprised that people still remember me here. I got down at the airport this morning and someone greeted me saying, 'Hi, you are back. We still remember your spell'," he adds with a grin.
Four surgical scars on his ankle tell the story of last six years. Ever since that 2003 World Cup game against England, in which he bowled a miraculous spell of six for 23, the lanky left-arm seamer has been living in flashback. Nehra has been on five trips to South Africa for rehabilitation and knows the roads of Johannesburg well. But on Monday, it was an emotional return to Durban.
"People have asked me how much I remember of that day. I remember everything - strapping my ankle, icing it, taking pain-killing injections and taking courage from Dada's (Sourav Ganguly) insistence on playing me in the XI," he says.
"Coming back here is special. The team management decided to give me extra rest to recover from a side strain, so I will start my IPL campaign here. Hopefully this venue can help me bowl another dream spell and revive my career," he says even as reverberating thunder highlights the possibility that Tuesday's matches may be washed out. "Don't worry about these rains. They come and go. The matches will still take place," he says, almost hopefully.
Friends forever
Weather permitting, the speedster will revive another old friendship on the field - with Virender Sehwag. "We played in the Irani Cup but it's been a while since we played together in the same team at the international arena. I think it was the Zimbabwe tour," Sehwag says.
"There is a lot of talk about how Gauti (Gautam Gambhir) and I are good friends, but Nehra and I go back even farther. I still remember both of us going to play matches sitting on a scooter, one of us driving, the other holding the kit-bag on the back seat. He used to carry just a small bag, the bigger one was always mine."
The Indian opener still has that scooter at home. "It's very special to me, a token of our bonding," says Sehwag.
Nehra smiles in agreement. "It's been a long time since I rode a scooter. After we both made it into the national team, we got big cars but that scooter is still special. He used to drive in the morning because he would be fresh and I used to drive back," Nehra says.
Circumstances have stopped Nehra from making an India comeback. But Sehwag has stood by him through thick and thin, urging him to keep working hard. "Viru toh yaaron ka yaar hai (Viru is a great friend)," says Nehra.
Sehwag doesn't say any more. He simply wants to toss the ball to Nehra and ask him to get going.
Four surgical scars on his ankle tell the story of last six years. Ever since that 2003 World Cup game against England, in which he bowled a miraculous spell of six for 23, the lanky left-arm seamer has been living in flashback. Nehra has been on five trips to South Africa for rehabilitation and knows the roads of Johannesburg well. But on Monday, it was an emotional return to Durban.
"People have asked me how much I remember of that day. I remember everything - strapping my ankle, icing it, taking pain-killing injections and taking courage from Dada's (Sourav Ganguly) insistence on playing me in the XI," he says.
"Coming back here is special. The team management decided to give me extra rest to recover from a side strain, so I will start my IPL campaign here. Hopefully this venue can help me bowl another dream spell and revive my career," he says even as reverberating thunder highlights the possibility that Tuesday's matches may be washed out. "Don't worry about these rains. They come and go. The matches will still take place," he says, almost hopefully.
Friends forever
Weather permitting, the speedster will revive another old friendship on the field - with Virender Sehwag. "We played in the Irani Cup but it's been a while since we played together in the same team at the international arena. I think it was the Zimbabwe tour," Sehwag says.
"There is a lot of talk about how Gauti (Gautam Gambhir) and I are good friends, but Nehra and I go back even farther. I still remember both of us going to play matches sitting on a scooter, one of us driving, the other holding the kit-bag on the back seat. He used to carry just a small bag, the bigger one was always mine."
The Indian opener still has that scooter at home. "It's very special to me, a token of our bonding," says Sehwag.
Nehra smiles in agreement. "It's been a long time since I rode a scooter. After we both made it into the national team, we got big cars but that scooter is still special. He used to drive in the morning because he would be fresh and I used to drive back," Nehra says.
Circumstances have stopped Nehra from making an India comeback. But Sehwag has stood by him through thick and thin, urging him to keep working hard. "Viru toh yaaron ka yaar hai (Viru is a great friend)," says Nehra.
Sehwag doesn't say any more. He simply wants to toss the ball to Nehra and ask him to get going.