Incredible, but Ashish Nehra's entry into the Indian Test XI was solely based on his showing in a single Ranji Trophy Super League tie. It was the 1998-99 season and Nehra had taken a mere 12 wickets in five matches in the competition. On February 14, the 19-year-old, just into his second first-class season, opened the attack for Delhi in a routine clash against Tamil Nadu at the Feroze Shah Kotla. [More]

A Duleep Trophy contest in January 2001 produced Ashish Nehra's most fondly remembered performance. North Zone travelled to Guwahati to take on East Zone and Nehra's eyes must have lighted up as he cast a look at the slightly underprepared wicket laid out at the North-East Frontier Railway Stadium. [More]

Ashish Nehra returned to the Harbax Singh Stadium for Delhi's final clash in the zonal league against table-toppers Punjab. The race for the Devraj Puri Trophy, symbolising supremacy in the North Zone, had boiled down to the result of this game with Delhi (29 points) in hot pursuit of Punjab (32 points). [More]

Ashish Nehra's 1999-2000 season was a moderate success yielding 29 wickets. The one element serving to dampen his ardour was an ankle injury that called for surgery. Having spent the summer recuperating, Nehra returned with renewed vigour to tackle the demands of a new season. He was easily Delhi's most penetrative bowler in the first two games as they opened the North Zone league on a fairly snappy note, trouncing Services and taking first innings honours against Haryana. [More]