A side strain is almost a rite of passage for young fast bowlers.
Glenn Maxwell never comes off the long run but found his own unique way to damage the "grunter" muscle during the Indian Premier League.
"I was slog sweeping in the nets," Maxwell told AAP.
"I felt it go then got through the next game. I tried to scrape a few games together, where I didn't have to bat too much and fielded in low-intensity areas.
"I thought it had died down but it came back to bite me.
"That last game I knew it was gone ... it was disappointing to leave the tournament early but in terms of the bigger picture, it was the right decision to go home."
The immediate bigger picture was Australia's upcoming ODI tri-series against West Indies and South Africa.
Maxwell initially feared the setback was serious enough to force him out of the trip to the West Indies.
"I was a bit nervous when I first did the injury in India," he said.
"I was a bit worried about whether they'd take me to the Caribbean if I wasn't 100 per cent before the series started."
The allrounder is upbeat he will be declared fully fit for Australia's series opener against the hosts, which starts at 3am AEST on Monday in Guyana.
The 16-man squad is currently en route to the West Indies, having taken in a MLB match during a stopover in New York.
Maxwell batted in the nets without any signs of discomfort prior to departing Melbourne.
"I feel like I'm ready to go and hopefully I'll be ready for that first game," he said.
"That's going to be my biggest challenge, to try and get ready for the first one.
"But if not that game, I should be right for the rest of the tournament."
Maxwell suffered a similar injury the day before a Melbourne Big Bash League derby in 2014 but it wasn't nearly as severe.
"I sort of faked my way through the fitness test to make sure I could play, I was desperate to play," the 27-year-old recalled.
"We had an eight-day break after that game so I was sure I'd be fine."
The latest injury ended a frustrating IPL campaign for Maxwell, whose Kings XI Punjab finished last on the table.
"I probably didn't get the results that everyone was expecting but I actually felt like I was playing well," he said, having averaged 19.88 with the bat during the event.
"We just couldn't win the close games and couldn't win crucial moments, which certainly added to the frustration of leaving early."
Share
