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Kevin Pietersen eyes long stint with England
Kevin Pietersen says he would "try" playing another five or six years for England but would not sacrifice his Test career to play ODIs and Twenty20.
- Press Trust of India
- Updated: July 31, 2009 09:34 AM IST
Read Time:2 min
London:
"I've been very fortunate to have played 54 injury-free Test matches. I have a little break now for six weeks and I've said to myself and my family I'm going to try to have another five or six years' full stint for England, which I love doing," Pietersen told 'Daily Mail'.
"I won't be giving up any form of the game at the moment.
Test cricket for me is the best. One-day cricket, I love. Twenty20 cricket, I love," the explosive batsman said.
"I know that there will be no freelance cricketer in me for years to come. I will be firmly playing for England. Test cricket is my favourite game and that's something I want to continue doing for a long time."
Pietersen has been forced to sit out of the ongoing Ashes series against Australia due to an Achilles injury. The 29-year-old said he would try to keep himself injury-free after this to play as much international cricket as possible.
"I get the point that people are talking about too much cricket and I made a statement two or three years ago that I was tired. I then said to myself: 'Right, you've got a short career here, you can play until you're 34 or 35 for England if you are fortunate and injury free.' And I'm going to play as much as I can," he said.
The right-hander reiterated that the Indian Premier League had nothing to do with his injury and he is annoyed with the Royal Challengers Bangalore physio, who started the controversy by claiming that Pietersen went against his training regimen.
"It's totally unfounded. I've spoken to the guy in South Africa and it really annoyed me what he said to the media. The ECB have been absolutely fantastic in the way they've come out and said that it's absolute nonsense," he said.
"If I was sitting here all hunky-dory and fresh no one would be talking about it. I've picked up an injury which has been described to me as wear and tear, and no one can specifically put a finger on exactly what the injury is about," he added.
Pietersen said the increasing amount of cricket might be a concern for bowlers but not for batsmen.
"I think if I was a bowler that would make a huge difference. I think what I'm going to have to do is taper down some of the training that I do, make it more specific to what I do and I don't think I should have any more problems," he said.
Injury-hit batsman Kevin Pietersen says he would "try" playing another five or six years for England but would not sacrifice his Test career to play one-day and Twenty20 formats longer like teammate Andrew Flintoff."I've been very fortunate to have played 54 injury-free Test matches. I have a little break now for six weeks and I've said to myself and my family I'm going to try to have another five or six years' full stint for England, which I love doing," Pietersen told 'Daily Mail'.
"I won't be giving up any form of the game at the moment.
Test cricket for me is the best. One-day cricket, I love. Twenty20 cricket, I love," the explosive batsman said.
"I know that there will be no freelance cricketer in me for years to come. I will be firmly playing for England. Test cricket is my favourite game and that's something I want to continue doing for a long time."
Pietersen has been forced to sit out of the ongoing Ashes series against Australia due to an Achilles injury. The 29-year-old said he would try to keep himself injury-free after this to play as much international cricket as possible.
"I get the point that people are talking about too much cricket and I made a statement two or three years ago that I was tired. I then said to myself: 'Right, you've got a short career here, you can play until you're 34 or 35 for England if you are fortunate and injury free.' And I'm going to play as much as I can," he said.
The right-hander reiterated that the Indian Premier League had nothing to do with his injury and he is annoyed with the Royal Challengers Bangalore physio, who started the controversy by claiming that Pietersen went against his training regimen.
"It's totally unfounded. I've spoken to the guy in South Africa and it really annoyed me what he said to the media. The ECB have been absolutely fantastic in the way they've come out and said that it's absolute nonsense," he said.
"If I was sitting here all hunky-dory and fresh no one would be talking about it. I've picked up an injury which has been described to me as wear and tear, and no one can specifically put a finger on exactly what the injury is about," he added.
Pietersen said the increasing amount of cricket might be a concern for bowlers but not for batsmen.
"I think if I was a bowler that would make a huge difference. I think what I'm going to have to do is taper down some of the training that I do, make it more specific to what I do and I don't think I should have any more problems," he said.
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