Kevin Pietersen — the eternal enigma

August 23, 2014 02:21 am | Updated November 16, 2021 07:16 pm IST - London:

LONDON, ENGLAND - JULY 05:  Kevin Pietersen of Rest of the World looks on prior to the MCC and Rest of the World match at Lord's Cricket Ground on July 5, 2014 in London, England.  (Photo by Ben Hoskins/Getty Images)

LONDON, ENGLAND - JULY 05: Kevin Pietersen of Rest of the World looks on prior to the MCC and Rest of the World match at Lord's Cricket Ground on July 5, 2014 in London, England. (Photo by Ben Hoskins/Getty Images)

Just as India and England swapped fortunes in an English summer that is on the wane, the references to Kevin Pietersen have become mute. It wasn’t the case when the host struggled initially and Alastair Cook was asked if he thought that axing Pietersen was the right decision. The skipper answered: “I still think it is.”

Over the last six weeks, conversations with cricketers, journalists and fans, have elicited a common response: “He is a fine player but...”

One observer said: “The present management don’t want him and they have their reasons by the time there is a rethink, he might be 79. I do like to see him bat and the tragedy is that he didn’t fit into the team.”

Pietersen’s case got muddled further because of the tweets unleashed by his friend Piers Morgan. A senior scribe said: “The overwhelming feeling within the squad was that stuff being discussed within the dressing room was finding a way out through Morgan.”

With more than 13000 international runs across Tests, ODIs and Twenty20s and the gift of single-handedly influencing matches, Pietersen is an incredible player. But what makes it bizarre is that he is seen as a player who doesn’t adhere to team-norms.

There are many shades to his personality and in 2008, when he led England during a tour of India, after suffering a Virender Sehwag assault, Pietersen mumbled: “Viru is a superstar.” The admiration fitted into an old-world of gentle manners, where a rival was applauded.

Great player but poor team-man, goes the popular perception and it is a complexity that caught David Gower’s eye.

“He is a very talented cricketer and in many ways very professional and very particular about playing for England, about being ready for the game, about getting runs but somehow he had this knack of alienating his colleagues and I don’t know how that worked because to me his is very polite, a perfectly polite person,” the former England captain said.

Is it just about not fitting into the team or is it about England remaining suspicious of players with flair? Even Gower had a fall-out with Graham Gooch while the latter was the captain.

Gower differed on the subject and said: “There are potential similarities but then there are also differences. He put two successive captains — Andrew Strauss and Alastair Cook — under pressure.

“Cook is the man, who rescued Kevin and used him to win that series in India. And the same Cook was put in a position at the start of this summer to say that he would rather not have Pietersen.

“I am not in that dressing room and I couldn’t possibly say why these things happen but if that is the evidence you are looking at, you got to say that’s the conclusion that they came to. You don’t jettison someone of Kevin’s calibre without thinking hard about it.” Meanwhile the star in question is holidaying in Miami and recently tweeted: “Just been swimming with a shark.”

Pietersen might well turn around and say that was his story as far as wearing an England shirt was concerned. As for glimpses of him, tune into the various Twenty20 leagues where he will be a top draw.

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