Inzamam-ul-Haq, Pakistan's most prolific one-day batsman, plans to get back into the national team and play on another five years after sinking to a career low at the World Cup.

The 33-year-old scored 19 runs in six innings at cricket's showpiece event in February and March as Pakistan was eliminated at the first stage. On his return home, he was barracked by fans, resigned as vice-captain and was dropped for the first time in his 11-year international career.

"The time away from the game will be good for me because I've played continually for a couple of years," Inzamam said in an interview. "I'll come back refreshed and play on until I'm 37 or 38."

Inzamam, who misses the four-nation one-day series in Sharjah that started today, failed to reach double figures in South Africa. With Sri Lanka's Mahela Jayawardene, who tallied 21 runs in seven innings, Inzamam was one of the tournament's biggest failures. World Cup winners medal within four months of his one-day debut.

He is now the fifth-highest scorer in one-day cricket with 8,957 runs and Pakistan's second-highest in Tests with 6,214.

Although a reliable slip catcher, Inzamam was better known for being overweight and a slow runner between the wickets. His misery this year came even though he'd slimmed down and improved his athleticism.

"Before the World Cup I trained really hard on my fitness, lost 23 pounds and worked hard in the nets on my batting," Inzamam said. "It just didn't happen for me or the team. I was always positive and just felt that God was not happy with us."

Inzamam, who reduced his intake of oily meals such as curry for pasta and grilled foods, is now training daily on his own in Lahore. He recently moved there from his native Multan with his wife, three-year-old son and 10-month-old daughter.

With an average just short of 50 from 85 Tests and under 40 in 290 one-dayers, Inzamam wants to put his newfound fitness to use. He scored 329 against New Zealand last year, eight runs short of Hanif Mohammed's national record.

"For the first time in my career I'm fully fit and I'm really enjoying training hard," he said. "I want to reach 10,000 runs in Test cricket and beat Javed Miandad's Pakistan record. I have a big opportunity to achieve that."

Javed managed 8,832 runs. In 126 years of Test cricket, only Sunil Gavaskar, Allan Border and Steve Waugh have reached the 10,000 landmark.

© Bloomberg