London: Young paceman Irfan Pathan terms his two-month county stint in England as tough but a rewarding one, saying he is in perfect shape to start the new season.

“It was a rewarding, yet a tough experience which would hold me in good stead for the coming season with India,” said Pathan, who would touch his home-base on Wednesday, richer by his county experience in Middlesex.

Pathan said he more or less met the objective with which he set out for England after an indifferent series against Pakistan at home.

“I wanted to go with a relaxed frame of mind. I didn’t want to pressurise myself with undue self-expectations and to that extent I largely succeeded. I also wanted to claim complete match-fitness,” Pathan said over telephone.

Pathan’s goal to relax was a well-founded one. He took to the new format of game in the Twenty20 Cup like a duck to water and has impressively pushed Middlesex close to a berth in quarter finals.

The 20-year-old said he could have put extra pressure on himself in the past season where he picked up only 11 wickets from six Tests at home, including a rather unworthy average of 68.33 against Inzamam-ul Haq’s team.

“I could have made the mistake of over-training myself. I used to train so much that even my trainer began to ask me to lay off a bit. I was doing it in the middle of the season which didn’t help matter,” Pathan said. (PTI)