New Delhi, Oct. 9: Blessed with a silk-smooth bowling action coupled with the ability to generate raw pace, New Zealand paceman Shane Bond has arrived in India with a license to thrill. With injury plaguing him for most of his career, one of the most exciting paceman in contemporary cricket has been forced to spend more time under the knife than on the pitch.

Wiser and fitter now, Bond has not let injury woes get the better of him. "I am trying to keep things simple. I am concentrating on my game right now by making my own plans for the game and the opposition. Bowling quick is what I do. I offer something different to my team with my pace and I have no intentions of cutting on pace to prolong my career."

Elaborating on his rehabilitation, Bond said: "I had to have back surgery. I had to change my bowling action on more than one occasion. My aim was to get more open chested and reduce the stress on my back. I have trained with a boxing coach to increase my fitness and thankfully have been injury free for some time now." Asked about his plans for the Champions Trophy, Bond said: "This is my first time in India and it will be important to assess the wickets very quickly and get used to the climate. I hope to hit the 150 kph mark soon but on these flat tracks you need to be smarter. I will pick and choose the balls I need to bowl quick."

With Shoaib Akhtar, Brett Lee and Shane Bond competing on one platform, the race for the tag of the fastest bowler in the world just got hotter.