While, the 36-year-old pacer has done well in the shortest format since his return, he regrets having turned down MS Dhoni and former Indian coach Gary Kirsten's offer to make a comeback to the Test side in 2009.
"When I look back, I feel I should have played more than 17 Test matches," Nehra said on Monday (April 19). "In 2009, Dhoni and the then coach Gary Kirsten had asked me if I would like to make a Test comeback. I was around 30-31 then and should have responded positively but I was not very sure. When I look back, only two years back, at the age of 35, I had played six four-day matches in six weeks."
Having sustained an injury during the semifinal match against Pakistan during the 2011 World Cup, Nehra didn't feature in the final against Sri Lanka. In fact, since then, he hasn't featured in a single One-Day International match. The pacer didn't answer directly as to why he remained in the cold following India's successful World Cup campaign.
"I sustained four fractures in my hand while fielding during the semifinal match against Pakistan. But one needs to understand that being injured does not mean you are unfit. Injury is getting hit, sustaining fractures but fitness is a different aspect. In these four years, I may not have played international cricket but I was playing domestic cricket during that phase."
A protege of Sourav Ganguly's new-age Indian team back in 2000, Nehra marked out the difference of playing under him and MS Dhoni, and said that the experience of playing under the latter was 'more enjoyable'.
"When we played under Sourav, guys like myself, Yuvraj (Singh), Virender Sehwag and Zaheer Khan were all very young. For us Sourav's wish was our command as he had much more experience than all of us. If Dada said that something needs to be executed, we knew it had to be done.
"When I made a comeback under Dhoni in 2009, I was more matured and I knew more about my bowling and also could understand and relate to Dhoni's philosophy of captaincy. So it has also been an enjoyable experience under Dhoni."
Apart from being the senior-most player in the side currently during the 2016 World T20, he was also seen guiding the younger bowlers and making plans in crucial stages along with the captain. Ever since Zaheer Khan's absence from the national side, the upcoming Indian fast bowlers haven't had a mentor on field - a role that Nehra fulfilled commendably.
While speaking about Dhoni, the left-arm pacer hailed him as the coolest captain under pressure. "Right from my debut under Mohammed Azharuddin (in 1999), I have played under so many captains but when it comes to remaining cool and delivering under pressure, Mahendra Singh Dhoni is the best. I have not seen anyone who can remain so cool under pressure."
When asked about Dhoni's gesture of mocking an Australian journalist following India's defeat against West Indies recently, Nehra said that he didn't have much of an opinion to offer. "How many times have you seen Dhoni lose his cool? It's also about how you ask a particular question. On personal front, what is being written in papers has never bothered me as I don't read them or watch news on television. I don't even watch cricket on television. I rarely give interviews or press statements," he concluded.
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