Ashish Nehra one of the nicest and honest players: Shoaib Akhtar

New Delhi, Nov 3: Former Pakistan fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar has written a heartfelt message for now-retired Ashish Nehra.

Nehra played his final professional match on Wednesday and Team India made sure to give him the perfect farewell as they beat New Zealand by 53 runs in the first T20I of the three-match series at the Feroz Shah Kotla in Delhi, which is also the left-arm seamer's home ground.

"1 of the nicest guy & honest fast bowler has retired from INTL cricket .A Nehra it was pleasure playing against u #Cheers fella#," Akhtar wrote on Twitter.

1 of the nicest guy & honest fast bowler has retired from INTL cricket .A Nehra it was pleasure playing against u #Cheers fella#

— Shoaib Akhtar (@shoaib100mph) November 2, 2017

 Nehra retired with 235 wickets across formats in international cricket. The 38-year-old bowled his full quota of four overs as the Kiwis attempted to chase down 203 but ended up with 149 for 8 in 20 overs.

Nehra came close to picking up a wicket on two occasions in the match but two dropped catches from Hardik Pandya and Virat Kohli meant he couldn't add to his tally of international wickets in his final game.

"I will miss all this. That's what you train for. One thing which will definitely be at peace will be my body. I said earlier that I can go a couple more years, but there can't be a better time to walk away. I must be the one bowler who sent down the last over most number of times for India. But those times were different," Nehra said after the match.

"The game has changed a lot since I started playing. I played my first game here in 1997. The rules have changed and so many runs are being scored. But whatever happens, this team is here to stay. The future of Indian cricket is in safe hands for the next six-seven years," he added.

Nehra, who had a career which lasted a little over 18 years, had first played for India in a Test match against Sri Lanka back in 1999.

He bows out as India's third highest wicket-taker in T20Is behind R Ashwin and Jasprit Bumrah with 34 wickets from 27 matches.