Former Indian fast bowler Ashish Nehra said he would need to ask his wife, Rushma Nehra, if he is given the opportunity to coach India. Nehra has been associated with Gujarat Titans for the last five years and he is regarded as one of the best T20 coaches in the current era.
The former Indian pacer had earlier not considered the Indian coaching role because of the team’s hectic scheduling at the top level. Nehra said International cricket involves traveling for eight to nine months, and it is not easy to manage.
Ashish Nehra said at CAB Annual Awards in Kolkata, “Again, it is very difficult to answer that right now. First things first, I would have to check with the High Commission, that is, my wife! Otherwise, I might get a divorce. As we discussed earlier, international coaching involves travelling for eight or nine months a year. It is not easy. Everybody has seen that, when it comes to international coaching, not too many people have lasted more than three or four years because of the kind of demands and travelling involved. But again, we’ll see.”
Nehra added that it would be a great honour for him to coach the Indian team, but currently he is happy with what he is doing.
“I would not use the word ‘ambition’. I never plan things like that. Yes, it would be a great honour and privilege, but I never plan for things like that. We’ll see what happens in the future. I am very happy where I am.”
The GT head coach admitted that coaching India is more difficult than coaching an IPL team.
“I wouldn’t say that, mainly because, first things first, I’ve never done international cricket, so I don’t know. But definitely, when it comes to international cricket and representing a country’s flag, travelling for nine months, I’m sure that’s a much tougher job, if you want to call it a job. I never call it a job. Whenever they ask me if I’m working in Gujarat, I say, ‘That’s my passion.’ It’s not about working or having a job.
“But coming back to international cricket, it looks easy, but it’s not. You’re travelling for nine months. When it comes to qualifying in the IPL, as you rightly mentioned, there are 10 teams, all equally placed. But in international cricket, when it comes to a sport like cricket, not like football, the whole world doesn’t play it. I wouldn’t say the IPL is a way tougher assignment or a much tougher tournament than international cricket,” he added.
Under Nehra’s tutelage, GT finished IPL 2022 as champions, whereas they ended IPL 2023 and 2026 editions as runners-up.
