I can represent England for another five years: Pietersen

Pietersen said he is serious about his cricket and would represent England for another five years.

Flamboyant England batsman Kevin Pietersen,who is returning from an injury,today sounded a warning to his critics,saying the appetite for runs still exists and he can play international cricket for another five years.

30-year-old Pietersen,who flew home from the 2011 World Cup due to hernia,was under fire after he had made an appearance at a London nightspot shortly after his return from the sub-continent.

“I had a really bad hernia on the left side and when they opened me up on the right side they realised I had a double hernia so it wasn’t any surprise I was in the amount of pain I was in,” Pietersen told the media on the eve of the first Test against Sri Lanka in Cardiff.

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“But that’s gone,done and dusted,I’m not worried about that,I’m fully fit and ready for a bumper summer with England.”

“So many people have been saying that I don’t have the bug and that cricket is not my thing anymore. But I have only achieved half of what I want to achieve in the game.”

Pietersen said he is serious about his cricket and intends to represent England for another five years at least.

“I’m 30 years of age and I want to try to play for another five years. If I get a fair crack at it,I want to be the best player I can possibly be,and there’s nothing that detracts me from that. I’ve always said I want to challenge myself against the best players in the world and nothing has changed.”

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The hard-hitting batsman further added,”I cannot stress how important cricket is to me; I love cricket and playing for England.

“I still want to get 10,000 Test runs and I’m six hundreds away from scoring the most by an Englishman,” said Pietersen.

Pietersen,who experienced a lean phase after giving up captaincy following a spat with then coach Peter Moores in 2009,came back with a bang that includes scoring an Ashes double.

“I had a bad couple of years. I went away in September last year to go and do some soul-searching,to sort myself out,to find out what really ticks and to go and work with people who know me inside out.

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“I came away from that and a month later I got a double hundred in Adelaide and averaged 60 in the Ashes. And I’m back playing as well as I’ve ever played. So I’m just happy where I am as a cricketer at the moment.”

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