I am never going to give up bowling: Watson

Shane Watson has realised he can never give up bowling completely after watching his teammates get butchered by the Indian batsmen during the first Test.

Ravaged by injuries, Watson had committed to playing only as a batsman on his comeback during the four-Test series, but with the Aussies struggling to contain the hosts, he is itching to bowl again.

"That was a time that reaffirmed to me that I do want to bowl," Watson was quoted as saying by ESPN cricinfo.

"That was a time where if I hadn't have made the decision not to bowl for this tour that I could have had some input on the game at a crucial time in the match. That, to me, was the first time over the last month since I came back that I missed bowling.

"The decision I made is more a longer-term decision to get some running and conditioning into my legs; so when I start bowling again, my body has more chance of handling it.

"I do appreciate the decision but it certainly reaffirmed to me that I'm never going to give up bowling. It excites me having some input on the game, especially when what I do could have an influence on a certain part of the game," he added.

However, Watson said he will stick to his plan of resuming bowling during the second half of the IPL so that he can contribute with the ball during Australia's Ashes tour of England in July and August.

"That thought (of bowling at a later stage during the India tour) has gone through my mind a few times but I suppose we do have to stay on course," said Watson, who has taken 12 wickets at 33.41 in his past six Tests in India.

"There were reasons why I made that decision -- to try and get my body conditioned enough to get back into bowling.

"I know I've needed two or three months just to be able to get some conditioning into my body, to then hopefully hold together for the next period of time once I get back bowling again."

He was forced to skip part of the Australian Test summer -- the Brisbane and Adelaide Tests against South Africa -- due to calf and hamstring injuries.

Watson bowled 47.4 overs during the Hobart Test against Sri Lanka and then struggled with his calf in the next Test.

He decided against bowling after consulting Cricket Australia's medical staff, personal physio Viktor Popov and captain Michael Clarke, Watson said.

"I took a lot of information in at the time, especially through the summer having the same calf injury again and also the amount I bowled in Hobart, that was the most I've ever bowled in my career in four or five-day cricket," Watson said.

"I knew my body could handle it, it was more so backing up to handle it again. I had to get the right conditioning in my legs, things like running technique, doing all those things to give myself a better chance to hold together my body when I'm bowling.

"But I also need to be more careful in the future about the overs I do bowl. One, I have the chance to do it more consistently and have less chance of injury but also there were times when it affected my batting, more so in Test cricket over the last 12 to 18 months, especially when I was opening.

"There were a number of reasons why I made that decision, most importantly is trying to score some runs in Test cricket as well," he said.