5 successful cricket comebacks this season
Who doesn’t love a comeback story? Sports fans are generally romantics, and there is nothing that captivates the imagination and warms the heart more than seeing an athelete overcome adversity and return successfully. Every Indian cricket fan will remember Sourav Ganguly’s comeback in 2006, after a nasty fall-out with coach Greg Chappell, Sourav Ganguly was dropped from the squad. He was part of a ridiculous ad, where he said “Mera naam Sourav Ganguly hai. Bhule toh nahi?” that caused ridicule while reducing some ardent fans to tears. He made a courageous comeback the following season against South Africa, in South Africa and was named ‘the man of the series’. This is just one example of many, who have made successful comebacks to the squad. Cricket is a sport littered with injuries, and competition for places is always high, thus we have seen plenty of comebacks.
It’s been the season for comebacks, we take a look at 5 successful that we have witnessed this season:
1) Ashish Nehra, India
India’s comeback man for all seasons, Ashish Nehra leads the list. It seems like he has been around for ages – constantly battling critics and injuries, soldering on and doing this thing. Nehra was remarkable for India in the 2011 World Cup, where he formed a formidable partnership with Zaheer Khan. It almost felt like the Indians were watching the 2003 World Cup all over again, having to rub their eyes in disbelief. Disaster struck again however, as he picked up an injury in the semi-finals against Pakistan.
Read: Ashish Nehra picks up his latest injury
The squad for India’s tour of Australia in early 2016 was announced and Nehra was back! This time in the T20 squad, making a comeback after a whole 5 years. He wasted no time, picking up a wicket in his very first game and playing in a very successful series where India trounced Australia 3 – 0. This was followed by a very successful couple of months, representing India in both the Asia Cup and the World T20. He picked up 5 wickets in the Asia Cup at an average of 13.20 and 5 wickets in the World T20 as well. This was followed by a successful IPL campaign with the Sunrisers Hyderabad where he ended up champion. A champion comeback!