Toe injury saved Mitchell Johnson's career

Sydney, May 12 (ANI): Fast bowler Mitchell Johnson has admitted that he might have retired from cricket had he not injured his toe in Johannesburg last year.

Fit again Johnson is back in the one-day international squad and, according to selectors, is in contention to eventually make a comeback in all three forms of the game.

Johnson was at a crossroads in Johannesburg, gripped by self-doubt leading into the Test in which, remarkably, he would help bat his team to victory with torn ligaments in his toe.

"Going into that Test in Joburg, I was unsure if I could perform, to be honest. It was at that point where I really just wanted to get away from the game and step back from it," The Sydney Morning Herald quoted him, as saying.

"The injury did come at the right time. I'd probably lost a bit of interest in playing the game. If I didn't get the injury, if I kept going, I could have got dropped and that could have been it," Johnson said.

"That [retirement] could have been on the cards, for sure. I guess being away from the media helped a little bit, not copping it day in, day out. So that's been a bit of a relief," he added. (ANI)