Four years of Jerome Taylor’s international career were ravaged by injury, but the fast bowler, who has made a successful return to West Indies’ Test side, says he never thought of giving up the game

Devashish Fuloria02-Oct-2014October 2006. A 22-year-old fast bowler rips through the defences of Michael Hussey, Brett Lee and Brad Hogg at the Brabourne Stadium to become the first West Indian to get a hat-trick in ODIs. The bowler oozes promise and his spell is crucial in West Indies winning the Champions Trophy match by 10 runs.October 2014. The fast bowler, on a comeback trail after a long hiatus, is back at the Brabourne Stadium, as West Indies embark on their third tour to India in three years, and the memory of that hat-trick still fresh in his mind.”How can I forget anything like that? It is there and it will be there for a very long while until I can put something in front of that,” Jerome Taylor said, on the eve of the practice match against India A. “But that was one-day cricket and that’s in the past. There are lot of things that can be achieved in the future. I am actually working on being a better cricketer overall as well.”It has been a tough road for Taylor. His international career was disrupted with a spate of injuries when he was at his peak and there was a 32-month period during which all he played were a couple of domestic T20 matches. Moreover, during this period, his commitment to returning to the fold was questioned by the West Indies Cricket Board. Despite the setbacks, Taylor never thought of giving up the game altogether aside.”That thought [retirement] never crossed my mind,” he says. “It was more of physical challenge than a mental one. I have undergone a lot of stuff to get back to this point. It was a lot of work in the back end and it worked okay for me.”Taylor made a comeback to international cricket earlier this year during the series against New Zealand and has picked up 18 wickets in the five Tests since his return. The current version is not the tearaway fast bowler from five years ago, but Taylor, who is striving for consistency, says he maintains the ability to bowl a heavy ball. The tour of India will be his first full series since his return.”This might be a good series for me,” he says. “If I give a good account of myself against one of the top-ranking teams, that would actually boost my confidence and would help my career move forward. When I look at the Indian team and their batting line-up, yes, you will be put under pressure, but you have to spend hours in the field if you want to hit the straps as soon as possible.”What I do is try to listen to my body and use that as a guide going forward. Your body will tell you whenever something is wrong or right, and as a competitor, you cannot be afraid of expressing yourself in the park. Yes, it is going to stay in the back of your mind, but if you let that take over, then it’s going to hurt so much.”The addition of Taylor, along with Kemar Roach, has given the West Indies pace attack a potency that had been absent for a while. It’s still a new partnership. “I haven’t bowled much with Kemar since he came onto the scene,” Taylor says. “It’s only in the last two Test series that we have got together and it is something that is working really well. We even work together in the nets, we share information and stuff like that. So we are looking forward to whatever challenge lies ahead.”One of the challenges will be the conditions. In Mumbai, where the team plays both its practice matches, the temperatures have hit post-monsoon highs of 35 degrees, with almost 80% humidity. “It’s not a place where you can blast batters out,” Taylor says. Patience will be the key and Taylor knows a thing or two about it.