Nehra begins injury recovery process

Ashish Nehra has begun bowling in the nets after successful surgery on his injured finger, but will not be fully fit in time to take part in IPL 2011. Nehra had fractured the middle finger on his right hand while attempting a catch during India's semi-final win over Pakistan in the World Cup. The injury forced him to miss out on the World Cup final.

"I have just come back from Australia last week," Nehra told PTI. "My finger surgery went off well. My recovery has been pretty good. I was at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) doing my rehabilitation work. I have also started bowling in the nets and haven't faced any problems."

While he has had no trouble bowling, Nehra said batting and fielding is still a problem and therefore "playing in the IPL is out of the question". Instead, he will be going back to the NCA for a two-week rehabilitation program as he wants to be completely fit before making himself available for selection for India.

"The physios and the doctor will monitor my progress," he said. "If I get a positive response from them, I will submit my fit-certificate and make myself available for selection for the West Indies tour."

Pune Warriors India, one of the two new franchises, bought Nehra for $850,000 in the January player auction, and the bowler expressed his disappointment at not being able to play a single game for them this season.

"I feel bad that I haven't been able to serve the team. But injuries are something you can't really predict. It was painful to sit in the dressing room watching India win the World Cup. But then I was happy for my team also. I tried thinking about Praveen Kumar. He was a certainty in the squad but missed out due to injury."