India's left-arm pacer Irfan Pathan [Images] dispelled all doubts about his fitness and form by declaring: "I am very much fit now and ready for the new season."

The 20-year-old came in for heavy criticism during the Pakistan series after failing to perform to his potential. Many felt he was drafted too early into the squad following an injury, which may have affected his performance.

"Before the Pakistan series there was some fitness problem, but during that series there was no fitness problem at all. I was completely fit during that series."

The Baroda paceman, who disappointed with a haul of six wickets at a lowly strike rate of 119.00 in the three-Test series against Pakistan, then signed up for English county side Middlesex.

One of the key reasons he took up the challenge in the ever-demanding English county circuit was to get much-needed match practice before India's new season.

He said he spoke with Pakistani bowling legend Wasim Akram, his idol, former India pacer Javagal Srinath, and teammates Zaheer Khan [Images] and Ashish Nehra before leaving for England [Images].

"I had a chat with them, and they helped me a lot with some tips and advice, which proved to be beneficial," said Pathan, who has played 13 Tests and 16 ODIs for India.

"The county stint was useful to get some match fitness. It also proved to be vital as I learnt a lot of new things during my time there.

"We had to bowl in different conditions and on different type of wickets, so every match was a different experience."

During the first week there, Pathan spent some quality time with Middlesex coach John Emburey, who provided him tips on batting and bowling after some analysis.

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He had a good time in the county league and was very successful in the Twenty20 Cup. He picked 12 wickets in 7 matches at 12.75 as Middlesex made it to the last eight of the tournament.

Now back at the conditioning camp in Bangalore, Pathan is fully focused on getting the basic rights and starting the new season in right earnest.

"The camp is a great thing to happen to all the fast bowlers in the country.

"There is our coach Greg Chappell [Images], who is very knowledgeable. He studies the game well and provides some great tips."

Australian Ian Frazier, an expert in the biomechanics of bowling, is guiding Pathan at the camp.

"Frazer spoke a lot to me about the different lengths of bowling to be employed in different types of conditions. This is especially useful when we tour a new country and we are not aware of the conditions there. Hence, I think the time spent at the camp is proving to be really great," said Pathan, who named 'Emerging Player of the Year' at the ICC [Images] awards last year.

For the Baroda paceman, the upcoming season will signal a new beginning. His target?"Just keep it simple."