Left-arm seamer Ashish Nehra considers himself "unfortunate" since his short international career has too often been plagued by injuries, but he knows that such things are part and parcel of a pacer's life.
Nehra was forced to return home after playing the first two one-dayers against Pakistan due to a webbing injury. But after missing the remainders of the one-day series and the first Test, he rejoined the squad in Pakistan in place of Zaheer Khan who himself was done in by a hamstring injury.
"These days there is so much of international cricket. We play like 40 to 50 one-dayers and so many Test matches (in a year). So injuries have to happen. But I think with me it's like... you can say I'm unfortunate," Nehra told Karan Thapar on BBC's "Face to Face" programme to be telecast on Saturday.
"As a fast bowler you have to (live with injuries)... but those injuries, I have so many. Like, I am just 25, already had two ankle surgeries," he said.
Nehra said he was "frustrated" to get injured during the one-day series since he was looking to do well on the tour after an average outing in Australia.
"I was looking forward to go to Pakistan and just do well. I did well in the first two one-dayers. I bowled really well.
"In the next three one-dayers I didn't play and it was like really frustrating for me, specially like the kind of freak injury which I never expected."
Despite missing matches on the Pakistan tour, Nehra still relishes his final over in the first one-dayer at Karachi, where India won the thrilling contest by five runs.
"It was a very rare moment. I mean that kind of matches, you don't play every day. It was a big job for me and I did it for my country. So I was happy," Nehra said.
Pakistan needing nine runs in the final over, found Nehra too hot to handle, as they could manage just three runs from that over.
The seamer said Javed Miandad's famous six off the final ball off Chetan Sharma in Sharjah in 1986 never came to his mind while he was getting ready to bowl the last ball to Moin Khan. "No, it never came to mind actually. My mind was in the game only."
He also said he was "95 per cent" right in bowling a full toss to Moin Khan when Pakistan were needing six runs off the last ball.
"It didn't go wrong. I was trying to bowl a low full toss and I was watching the batsman's movement as well. It was not 100 per cent right but I'll say 95 per cent. It was not easy to hit that kind of a full toss. It was not a slow ball, it was quick."
Nehra, a die-hard fan of Pakistani fast bowler Wasim Akram, gets regular phone calls from his idol, who is generous in offering tips to his protege.
"Wasim was no doubt a world class bowler and when I was a child I used to watch him a lot. I used to follow him a lot."
"He gives so many tips which are really important to me," said Nehra.
