Australian pacer James Faulkner eyes comeback against India

James Faulkner has had a rough nine month hiatus from international cricket. He was sidelined due to the Cricket Australia ban, a canceled tour of Bangladesh and an injury. He is set to make a comeback vs India as he's been named in a 13-man team to face India in a five match series.

His suspension came on account of him being involved in a Driving Under the Influence incident before The Ashes while he was with Lancashire. He was then about to return in the ODI series vs England but he suffered a broken finger.

"That was as hungry as I've (ever) got to get back into a team, so that was disappointing and now I've had to wait until the next series." Faulkner said. He is relishing the prospect to make his comeback vs India as well. "There's probably no bigger nation to play against than India and I know last time we were over there it was a really good contest so there's no reason why this one won't be. I'm looking forward to putting the strip back on and playing for my country."

Faulkner will be playing alongside his Melbourne Stars teammates Glenn Maxwell and Scott Boland. This doesn't bode all too well for the Big Bash team which will be without those three. They will play their last matches vs Hobart Hurricanes at the MCG

"It's something that we spoke about in the off-season but we've got to come up with a formula to get the job done" Faulkner said of leaving his Big Bash team, the Stars, without three of its players. While it is clearly a disadvantage to lose three players of this caliber, in a way it does strengthen the team by forcing them to dig deeper and seek more contributions across the board.

"It's the international schedule - everyone wants to play international cricket and they're happy to play it at any time of the year. I'd like to think we've got all of the areas covered." International competition also provides excellent competition for players to improve and test their mettle against the best in the world.

While Faulkner has had a rough stretch recently, with potential comeback after comeback being held off for one reason or another, it seems that this time he will finally be able to make his mark going up against India in the series this month.