We're star loving country, not sport loving

New Delhi, November 2: Ashish Nehra, talking about cricket in India, said that people are not really bothered about domestic cricket, and they 'only see what is happening with the Indian national team'.

“I don’t know what will come next. I haven’t sat down and decide what to do next. Maybe it will be coaching or maybe it will be commentary,” Nehra said of his future.

“It is emotional that I will be giving up what I’ve 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.”

Ahead of the third and final T20 against Australia in Hyderabad, Nehra announced his retirement plan.

While memories of his magical spell of 6/23 against England in the 2003 World Cup are still fresh, he played a crucial role in India’s World Cup win 2011. His economical spell of 2/33 against Pakistan in the semi-final helped India make the final which he unfortunately missed owing to a fractured finger.

Highlighting his thought process behind the big call, he said, “I have given it (retirement) a good thought, especially with the way Bhuvi (Bhuvneshwar Kumar) and (Jasprit) Bumrah have been bowling over the past six months,” he said.

“When I came into this series, I had come prepared to bowl. The day I linked up with this squad, I spoke to the captain and coach about my plan, because whenever Ashish Nehra is in the side he plays in the XI; he doesn’t sit out, we’ve seen that in the T20s over the last couple of years.