Buoyed by Virender Sehwag's encouraging words and a determination not to repeat the mistakes he made in the West Indies, all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja is confident of doing well against Australia to cement his place in the Indian ODI team.
"Australia is the no 1 team in the world and I hope to do well against them if given a chance. A good performance against Australia will always be remembered and would benefit my career," Jadeja said in an interview from Mumbai.
Jadeja made his debut for India in June this year against Sri Lanka and was also a member of the squad for the ODI series in West Indies.
But his poor show with the bat in limited matches he played for India, forced the selectors to drop him from the Champions Trophy-bound squad.
However, banking on some impressive performances in domestic circuit, the Saurashtra all-rounder returned to the team for the first two ODIs against Australia in place of out-of-form Yusuf Pathan.
Recalling his last stint with the Mahendra Singh Dhoni-led side, Jadeja, who has played three ODIs said, "I had played two ODIs in the West Indies and on both the occasions I got out in similar fashions (caught behind by the wicketkeeper) playing loose shots."
"After getting dropped, people around me kept on asking questions. It was the most difficult period of my career.
During that period I used to remain confined to my home in Jamnagar and took it up as a challenge to return to the team with a good performance," Jadeja said.
"I saw video tapes and tried to figure out what went wrong. My family also supported me a lot during that period and kept on encouraging me," he added.
His efforts soon bore fruit as good performances in JP Atray Trophy and in the Irani Trophy, where he played for Rest of India under Virender Sehwag, earned him back his place in Team India.
"I had a few good knocks including a 94 in the JP Atray in Mohali. I scored 77 (against Mumbai) in our team's victory in the Irani Trophy.
"Virubhai (Sehwag) was there to encourage me and his words of support gave me a lot of confidence ahead of the Ranji season," Jadeja said.
"The coach, support staff and the seniors all are very supportive. The seniors tell me not to lose focus as ups and downs are part of cricket," said the 20-year-old.