Retirement not on my mind: Younis

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Press Trust of India Karachi
Last Updated : Jun 25 2015 | 7:48 PM IST
Senior Pakistan batsman Younis Khan, who is appearing in his 100th Test match, says that he has no immediate plans to call it quits.
"I want to continue playing for a few more years in fact I am targeting a comeback to the One-day side. As long as I am enjoying playing cricket I will carry on. And I will continue to try to give quality performances. When I decide to retire everyone will know about it," Younis said.
Younis became the fifth Pakistani batsman on Thursday after Javed Miandad, Inzamam-ul-Haq, Wasim Akram and Salim Malik to play 100 Tests for his country when he appeared in the second match against Sri Lanka in Colombo.
"I am close to scoring the most centuries and most Test runs for Pakistan and that is a strong enough incentive for me to continue playing. When I began playing cricket I never thought I would play 100 Tests. But I got inspiration from Javed bhai and when I saw Inzamam also complete 100 tests I knew I also had to achieve this landmark," he said.
Younis also added that if circumstances allowed he would love to end his career captaining the team.
The former captain failed in the first innings of his 100th Test but said the biggest motivation for him was to break Miandad's record of most Test runs for Pakistan.
"Javed bhai was a great and there would be nothing more satisfying than achieving what he did," he said.
Younis said for him his career with Pakistan had been very special.
"There have been ups and downs but I have always kept faith in myself and God. There have also been many people who kept me motivated and pushed me to play on. For me the target has always been to do well for the team and see it win."
The senior batsman said his biggest regret was that Pakistan was not able to play home matches since 2009.
"Home crowds and supporters are a big plus point for any sportsman to do well. Playing at home is always a big incentive. Unfortunately for the last six years we have had to play abroad and it has not been easy for us," he said.
"Achieving landmarks before your own home crowd is a different feeling. That is why the triple century I scored against Sri Lanka in 2009 at Karachi remains very special for me," he said.
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First Published: Jun 25 2015 | 7:48 PM IST

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