How frustrating is it for a new-ball bowler to go out of the Indian team because of an injury and then be relegated to the sidelines?

• It’s very frustrating when you sit on the bench as the third or fourth seamer, thinking that just a couple of months ago you were the team’s top bowler. I was having a good run for almost two years before I picked up the injury, so you can imagine how I must’ve felt when I was out of the side. Watching the team playing from the sidelines was disappointing, and to be sitting on the bench for months while I waited for another chance even more so. When I was eased out last year after just two bad matches at home, it was demoralising.

But life must be easy for an international cricketer in the domestic circuit?

• On the contrary, it’s tougher because you have to mentally prepare yourself for the grind. The opposition knows your reputation and plays with extra care. The batsmen try to see you off and take credit in not giving you wickets. Some of them are your friends who have seen you since the under-19 days, others have had a chance to analyse you on TV. To get a large number of wickets as a selection parameter becomes very demanding. But generally the selectors come to watch matches, so if the bowler finds his rhythm he can return to the big league.

You and Fidel Edwards have formed one of the most potent bowling combinations in the IPL.

... contd.