Former Sri Lanka skipper Marvan Atapattu was glad on Monday to be finally pain free after returning to the side for the ICC Champions Trophy following back surgery.
Atapattu, Sri Lanka's top-order batsman for almost a decade with the explosive Sanath Jayasuriya, will play his first international match since March when his team face Bangladesh in the opening qualifying game in Mohali on Saturday.
"I haven't played much cricket for the last eight months," the 35-year-old said. "It has been gym, hospital and rehab for me. It is time to get on the field again."
Atapattu has scored 8,233 runs in 253 one-day internationals with 11 hundreds and 5,330 runs in 88 tests since making his Sri Lanka debut 16 years ago.
He underwent surgery in May to fix a painful disc problem that required frequent injections to allow him to continue playing.
"This was worrying me from my school days," he explained, adding that a packed calendar aggravated the problem.
"It came to a stage when I had to decide whether I just want to play cricket or be pain-free at the end of my career."
Mahela Jayawardene, handed the captaincy, led Sri Lanka to a 5-0 one-day series sweep over hosts England and a 2-0 home test series rout of South Africa.
Upul Tharanga, a 21-year-old left-handed batsman, has also filled in as an impressive opening partner for Jayasuriya.
Atapattu had no concerns over losing the captaincy or even a place in the side.
"There is nothing called a permanant place in a side, especially with the management trying all sorts of combinations," he said.
"If you're in a winning combination that is what we want. It is not about yourself.
"It has been a privilege to see the guys play the last couple of months, break records," he said. It is a good time for us to participate in a prestigious tournament like this."
