"He never rode the scooter in the morning" - Virender Sehwag on travelling to practice with Ashish Nehra
Former Indian opener Virender Sehwag recently spoke about travelling to the Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium (rechristened as Arun Jaitley Stadium) with Ashish Nehra during their younger days.
Sehwag revealed that he used to go to Nehra's residence to pick him up on his scooter. He joked about how the former fast bowler would often avoid riding the scooter in the morning and would only offer to do it while returning from their practice session.
Sehwag made these comments during his recent appearance on the show, "Breakfast with Champions".
"He (Ashish Nehra) never rode the scooter in the morning. He'd ride it only while coming back. I said, 'You'll have to ride it one time for sure. Ride at least once,'" Virender Sehwag said.
"We were friends since we played school cricket against each other," he added. "So I played first-class cricket and bought a scooter. After I bought a scooter, he said, 'We need to go to Feroz Shah Kotla stadium for practice, pick me up on the way'. So my route was via Delhi Cantonment.
"Else, I'd go straight to Moti Nagar, then to Connaught Place, and from there to ITO. But to pick him up, I'd go to Tilak Nagar to Delhi Cantonment, from there to Dhaula Kuan and to Teen Murti and Akbar Road. Because of that, I memorized the roads also."
Notably, both Sehwag and Nehra share great camaraderie off the field as well. The two have featured together in some of India's most momentous victories, including the 2011 ICC World Cup triumph.
"At least someone is eating" - Virender Sehwag on finishing Ashish Nehra's breakfast
Virender Sehwag further stated that when he used to reach Ashish Nehra's house, the pacer's father would be sitting there reading a newspaper.
He suggested that Nehra's father knew that his son wouldn't have breakfast before going to practice. Sehwag mentioned that it was he who used to eat the food that was prepared for the left-arm bowler, adding:
"Ashish Nehra's father used to read the newspaper when I went there. He knew that Ashish won't have breakfast. It's getting finished now. At least someone is eating."
Following his retirement from all forms of the game, Virender Sehwag has established himself as one of the most popular Hindi commentators. Nehra, on the other hand, is currently the head coach of Gujarat Titans (GT) in the Indian Premier League (IPL).