Johnson's India tour cut short to prepare for winter Ashes series in Oz

Australian fast bowler Mitchell Johnson has reportedly been sent home to Australia from their India tour in order to gain some preparation time for the upcoming winter Ashes series against 'Old Enemy' England.

Although India's thrilling win in the sixth ODI in Nagpur has left the contest evenly poised at 2-2 before the seventh and final test in Bangalore on Saturday, however, the left-armer will not feature in the final one-dayer on the sub-continent as he will by then be in Australia breathing life into the team's Ashes hopes.

According to the Mirror, Cricket Australia's (CA) general manager of team performance Pat Howard confirmed Johnson's departure from India, saying that it is best for his preparation ahead of a busy summer to have him return to Australia to increase his bowling loads in preparation for the Ashes Test window.

The report mentioned that Johnson might replace injured Mitchell Starc and bring his bone-jarring pace into Australia's attack for the first test at the Gabba from November 21, alongside Peter Siddle and Ryan Harris as their main attack bowlers, although he will face stiff competition from fellow left-armer Doug Bollinger

Johnson has enjoyed a successful Indian Premier League (IPL) campaign for the Mumbai Indians in which he took 15 wickets during the tournament, the report added.