It took Doug Bollinger until his 59th day on tour with the Australian team in India to get a game, so it is probably no surprise to see him surging to make up for lost time.

Bollinger has been Australia's outstanding pace bowler in the past two matches, first being miserly in New Delhi then proving the match-winner at Mohali with figures of 3-38 - all top order scalps.

Given a chance by the surfeit of injuries that have engulfed the tourists on this trip, he said the eight weeks in reserve on the 2008 Test tour had taught him some lessons.

"Just the different conditions, how you've got to be a lot more patient and bowl a lot more consistently because as you even saw (at Mohali), Sachin (Tendulkar) hit me through mid-wicket off a ball that was on off-stump," Bollinger said.

"It was amazing, but that's just the game here. I think it benefits you, going home for the season coming up in Australia."

Among Bollinger's weaknesses last year was a tendency to struggle for rhythm in his second and third spells, but he has rectified that fault, on Monday claiming the pivotal wicket of MS Dhoni when brought back on by captain Ricky Ponting.

"I did work a lot on my second spell because it's easy to bowl well with the new ball when it's swinging but when there's nothing happening you've got to bash the wicket," he said.

"That's probably an area of my game I'm really happy with at the moment - especially with the ball going 'Irish' (reverse swinging) here."

Brett Lee's return home due to an elbow complaint removed the final obstacle for Bollinger to receive a recall to the team, and though not wanting to say he was glad about an injury, admitted he had picked his moment.

"Nobody wants to see anyone injured, especially Brett who's got 300 Test wickets and 300 one-day wickets ... but someone's injury is someone's opportunity," he said.

"I wish him all the best but I've tried to put my best foot forward and say 'This is my time', and I've tried to grab it as much as I can to try and make my own way through."

Australia's Test summer awaits at the end of this trip, and Bollinger has set himself the goal of adding to his one appearance in the New Year's Test at Sydney.

"I would love to (get back in the Test side) and I'm trying to bowl as well as I can to see what happens when we get home," he said.

"I'm fit and well at the moment and I think I'm starting to climb a bit higher with my confidence n international cricket, and just in cricket in general."