It's been a long wait for the man they call 'The Finisher' and it's made James Faulkner as hungry as he's ever been to be back bowling at the death for the Australian limited-overs side.
A Cricket Australia ban, injury and the cancelled tour of Bangladesh have kept Faulkner off the international scene for more than nine months, but the allrounder is set to break that drought after being named in a 13-man squad to face India in this month's five-match series.
The 25-year-old last wore the green and gold in a man-of-the-match performance in Australia's comprehensive ICC World Cup final win over New Zealand in March last year.
But he was suspended by CA after a drink-driving incident on the eve of The Ashes while with English county side Lancashire, before he suffered a broken finger when on the verge of a return in the ODI series against England.
"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.
"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 joins Melbourne Stars teammates Glenn Maxwell and Scott Boland in the ODI squad.
If they stay in the side for the whole series against India, the trio will miss the rest of the Big Bash League, playing their last matches on Wednesday night against 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 the player exodus.
"It's the international schedule - everyone wants to play international cricket and they're happy to play it at any time of the year.
"(But) I'd like to think we've got all of the areas covered."
