“I believe I still have a lot to achieve and there is a lot to do in life”

Image courtesy of: ESPNcricinfo

Veteran Pakistan batsman Younis Khan has made it clear that he has no intentions to retire at any point in the near future after becoming the fifth Pakistani player to play 100 Test matches.

But, Khan was unable to make his milestone that much more special as he was caught behind off the bowling of Dhammika Prasad on the first day of the second Test against Sri Lanka in Colombo.

Besides his failure in Pakistan’s first innings, Khan has been in superb form as of late as he has scored five Test centuries in his last 15 Test innings.

“I believe I still have a lot to achieve and there is a lot to do in life,” he told ESPNcricinfo. “But I managed to get to 100 Tests, which is a big honour. A country like Pakistan, where the number of matches is fewer compared to other parts of the world, even Javed Miandad took about 18 years to play 124.

“For me it has taken 15 years to get to 100. During all those years I did face a lot of difficulties but I motivated myself, worked on my fitness and kept myself in the game. This is how I managed to stretch myself to get here.”

Meanwhile, Khan is hoping that the national team can start playing all their home matches in Pakistan once again after Zimbabwe’s successful tour of the country in May.

Prior to Zimbabwe, Pakistan had been forced to play all their home series in the United Arab Emirates after the Sri Lankan team were ambushed by armed militants in March 2009.

“For the last few years now we have been forced to play away from home in the UAE, where people don’t have time to watch Test matches,” he said. “They are mostly there for work and their routine doesn’t allow them to come and watch cricket in the stadium.

“Playing in front of an empty stadium is dissatisfying. When you don’t have the acknowledgement of the crowd, it makes you feel incomplete and it’s tough to motivate yourself.”