James Pattinson feels he was not ready for India

Australian fast bowler James Pattinson was not confident of making a return to Test cricket for the India tour and that is the exact reason why he had asked the Aussie selectors not to consider him for the series against India. The pacer felt that the time was not right to make a comeback into the longest format of the game as it could result in recurrence of the injuries that has hampered his career to quite an extent.

Pattinson put up an excellent show upon his return to the Sheffield Shield last month as he bowled at a great pace picking up 14 wickets in just three matches. But the Aussie selectors turned to Pat Cummins as a replacement for Mitchell Starc who is ruled out for the last two Test matches of the tour.

Pattinson was quoted by RSN radio as saying, “I had a chat with the selectors before this series, saying that I just wanted to really get through this Shield season. I know the last two times I’ve done something like this, flown over to a series where it’s in the balance and there’s the potential of me bowling close to 40, 50 overs, which I have – in South Africa in 2014 I did it, and then last year I did the same thing in New Zealand, going in with not a lot of cricket, and it hasn’t really turned out very well for me.”

Having dealt with career-threatening injuries Pattinson doesn’t want to rush his international comeback and will only take field once he as well as the selectors and physio feel he is absolutely ready to take the work load.

“We didn’t want to make that same mistake again, because at 26, if I went over there and did my back again or something, it would be not an ideal thing for the third time.”

“It was one thing that I didn’t want to do, and the selectors and physios weren’t too keen on trying to rush me back this time.”

“They’ve given me the best possible chance of getting back and playing three, four, five Shield games and getting confidence in my body this way,” the 26-year-old said.