After he hit the the headlines during the South Africa series with an 18-wicket haul in three Tests, Sreesanth struggled with his line, length and even focus in England— recall the collision with England skipper Michael Vaughan and the beamer against Kevin Pietersen. Today, back home in Kochi after being dropped from the one-day team, Sreesanth admits that the “pressure” got to him and looks forward to prove a point during the Twenty20 World Cup in South Africa. Excerpts from an interview conducted over phone:

• The England tour did not go too well for you, and finally you were not picked for the one-day team. What went wrong?

Yes, there was pressure in England, especially before the third Test. You are generally under a lot of pressure when playing for India. But finally, I decided to just concentrate on my game. Also, everybody in the team helped me lot, right from Rahul bhai, Sachin bhai, everybody else.

They helped me get through the tough times. Special thanks to Venkatesh Prasad (bowling coach) and Robin Singh (fielding coach), too. They really worked on my bowling and fielding. In the end, I am just happy to be part of history. It was such a nice feeling to win a series in England after 21 years.

• But being dropped from the one-day team must have been difficult?

To be honest, I think my most difficult phase was when I had a hamstring injury in 2003. And then I was dropped from the Kerala Ranji side. I thought it would be difficult for me to come back.

Now I have a dream life. I take things as they come, in a positive way. I am spending time with family and working out at the gym. I am also reading a lot. I recently read APJ Abdul Kalam, I prefer autobiographies.

But yes, I am disappointed at being dropped. But my focus is to improve my game. I know I have to improve a lot in one-dayers in all departments, in terms of my skill, mental aspect, everything. I can’t say I am an accomplished player.

• You were also involved in a few on-the-field incidents, barging into Michael Vaughan, bowling a beamer to Kevin Pietersen. What was going on?

About the beamer, it was not at all intentional. I actually tried to bowl a yorker with a lot of pace. Ask any fast bowler, he will tell you that if you want to bowl a yorker, you aim for the top of off-stump, so I was doing that. But of course, I am sorry about that incident. At the end of the day, I went across to Kevin and explained things to him. He took it in the right spirit. We are now great friends.

• Your body language on the field has come under a lot of scrutiny, and your superstitions.

Yes. But that’s how I am since day one. My passion and attitude towards the game is the same. I am not bothered about what others say about me. I don’t play for the camera even though a lot of people are saying so. Where were they when I was playing for Kerala? There was no camera there. I have always been the same, I am not scared of anything. You may call me superstitious. But I have certain beliefs. It helps me. I am like this since my childhood.

• You will soon be leaving for South Africa for the Twenty20 World Cup, how do you think that will turn out?

I thank God and I am blessed that I will be playing in my second World Cup in such a short span. Twenty20 is a great challenge but it will be fun, too. Obviously, if I am successful in Twenty20, especially during slog overs, it will help me get back into the one-day side. Twenty20 is basically 50-50 in slog overs. I hope I will learn a lot from it. I am looking forward to doing well.