Finally fit and firing, Nathan Coulter-Nile is putting three years of injury horror behind him to chase his baggy green dream.
The West Australian paceman made an outstanding return to international cricket in Sunday's first one-day international against India in Chennai.
The 29-year-old's lethal opening spell of 3-12 put Australia in control but India fought back to take the series lead in a rain-affected encounter.
After claiming his first international wicket in almost 450 days, Coulter-Nile admitted he thought he might never represent his country again.
"There was definitely periods when I wondered if I was going to play for Australia again," Coulter-Nile said.
"I was always confident of getting back to playing cricket but it's yet to be seen whether I can get through an Aussie tour."
A stress fracture in his back is the latest injury to stall his career.
That's after a disastrous period of hamstring and shoulder complaints stretching back to 2014.
After thinking long and hard about retiring from red ball cricket, the advice of Justin Langer among others convinced him to give it another crack.
"I think it would just be mad to give it up the dream at 29," Coulter-Nile said.
He returns to Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Thursday for the second match of the ODI series.
It was his home ground earlier in the season when he played eight matches for the Kolkata Knight Riders.
"It's not about earning money in the IPL, it's about playing Test cricket and representing your country on the big stage."
NATHAN COULTER-NILE'S HORROR RUN
*2014 April - Tears left hamstring playing for Delhi Daredevils in the IPL. Requires surgery and is ruled out of ODI tour of Zimbabwe
*2015, September - Injures right hamstring after three ODIs in the UK
*2015, October - Hurts left shoulder in domestic one-day cup warm-up match
*2015, December - In line for Boxing Day Test debut against the West Indies but dislocates his right shoulder fielding in the BBL
*2016, June - Plays in Caribbean tri-series and earns a place in the Test squad for Sri Lanka. Breaks down with stress fracture in his back
*2017, April - Eight matches for the Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL
*2017, September - Returns to take 3-44 against India in the first ODI in Chennai.
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