In the Irani Trophy match between Delhi and Rest of India, there was a bowler who took just a couple of wickets in the entire match. He hasn't been part of the Indian team since the Chappell days and if he had his way, he would never have to stay out this long from what (in his mind) rightfully belongs to him; a slot in the national team.

I always thought Nehra was a good bowler, if not great. He could work up deceptively high speeds and move the ball around; who can forget his 6-fer in the 2003 world cup match against England? He was also one of the slackers in the Indian team, who found in Ganguly a captain who could forgive everything as long as he had faith in you. Ganguly had real ability in spotting talent and an equal ability of making groupies and followers of his disciples. Harbhajan, Zaheer, Nehra, and Sehwag – all of them at some point or other termed as "Ganguly's boys" had one thing in common. They let laziness take over the potential which Ganguly spotted in them. Sehwag and Zaheer have learnt lessons the hard way and today form an important part of the Indian team; especially Sehwag's talent seems to have no bounds. It remains to be seen how Nehra fares.

During the initial days of the Greg Chappell era, Nehra famously once quoted that in his opinion "senior players" when out for injury should not have to prove themselves again before being selected but should find an automatic slot in the national team. Firstly, the cheek of considering himself a "senior player" and secondly, the lazy bum that he had become echoed in these words. Nehra didn't want to recover from injury, play a couple of Ranji and snap up wickets by the bucketful to show that he deserved a place in the squad. He wanted to waltz directly into the team because he was Nehra. Well, as I always say, Greg Chappell did manage to achieve some things before he was unceremoniously dumped as the Indian coach, and one of them was get rid of the lazies in the team. Nehra hasn't yet found his way back; Sehwag had learnt from past mistakes; Harbhajan still treads a fine line and might fall on his face someday; and Zaheer is today literally half the man he was when he was part of Ganguly's laies, and that shows in his speed and performance.

I remember Nehra's pompous quote many times, and one of those times was recently when Andrew Symonds got sent packing for giving preference to a fishing trip over a team meeting. I have heard arguments that this wasn't so serious as to end someone's career as it threatened to do, and the Australians were over-reacting in the reaction to Symonds' actions.

The Australian team management's thought process was simple – they needed people who were a 100% committed to making the team the most successful team in the world. Despite a player's talent, potential and performance, if the attitude was wrong, the player was not suitable for being part of the Australian squad. Symonds' actions were more serious than just missing a team meeting; they were about dis-regarding the rules by which the team played; they were about one man considering himself above the rest, where the rules don't apply to him, or even if they did, he didn't really care what those rules were. I loved one of the quotes from the Australian media – "In a team which is fiercely committed to giving a 100%, someone giving even 99% doesn't cut it".

Had Nehra been part of Team Australia instead of Team India, he might have learnt his lessons the hard way but quicker. The bowler who wanted a free ticket back into the national team might have thought more about snatching it on the basis of his performance. The attitude was incorrect, and typically it took an Aussie to kick him out, and admittedly a selection committee which backed the decision.

Nehra would do well to have a chit chat with his good friend Zaheer and even Virender Sehwag. Two among the band which I call Ganguly's lazies, they were on the same path as Nehra but changed course in time. Today Sehwag is easily India's most valuable player in tests and not too far behind in ODIs; Zaheer is keeping his nose ahead of the Ishants and Sreesanths not because of being the "senior player" but because he is bowling that damn good.

The Indian pace cupboard is looking good with Ishant, Sreesanth, RP Singh among other potentials giving good support to the reborn Zaheer. Nehra would be a good addition to this pack of fast bowlers but only if he can honestly answer one question in the negative – "Do you think a player should come back from injury directly into the national team without having to prove himself"?