Johnson: T20 is not my favourite format

Cricket365 15 Apr 2014

Fast bowler Mitchell Johnson has staved off suggestions of retirement from limited-overs cricket – and fixed focus to Australia's 2015 World Cup campaign.

Johnson enjoyed a prolific return to the Test team last year, gathering a Player of the Series performance across the Australians' five-nil series victory over England – and proved key across the tour of South Africa.

He missed the World Twenty20 due to a toe injury, though, prompting speculation that a prolonged stay in the longest format of the international game might require an end to his ODI or Twenty20 International career.

"I think I've got to be a lot smarter now. Twenty20, I will quite happily say, is not my favourite format – I would rather play Test cricket," Johnson told <i>cricket.com.au</i>.

"But my main goal now is to get to that 2015 Ashes series in England, so I'll be doing everything I can to reach that goal.

"I'd like to win a World Cup. I've been involved in the West Indies in 2007. And while it was tough work, the campaign we went through, it was a good place to be and a great experience.

"So I would love to be a part of Australia's 2015 World Cup and I certainly think we've got the team to win it. Given that it's being played at home, it would be a great opportunity."

Left-armer Johnson will represent the Kings XI Punjab in the 2014 Indian Premier League this year. A member of the Mumbai Indians in previous editions of the lucrative T20 tournament, Johnson was bought by the Punjab franchise for $1.083 million this season.

"I've had confidence with the white ball and been pretty consistent in the limited-overs format. You can get the white ball to swing, but really it's just good to get out there and enjoy some cricket which is how I see the IPL – it's really just a form of entertainment," he added.