The Kevin Pietersen Saga

One of the most stylish, eye-catching batsmen in world cricket is Kevin Pietersen. The South African born English batsmen has been a key player for England since he was given his test debut in the 2005 Ashes series. However, over time things change and people change and recently KP has been at the center of a lot of controversy. The thirty-two year old batsmen retired from limited overs cricket earlier this May claiming that the ECB schedule was too hectic.   

"With the intensity of the international schedule and the increasing demands on my body, I think it is the right time to step aside and let the next generation of players come through to gain experience for the World Cup in 2015."

Pietersen still wanted T20 cricket for England and expressed his desire to play in the World T20 this September. This was denied due to the statement in the central contract which he has signed with the ECB stating that if a player retires from ODI cricket, he too retires from T20 cricket. 

The timing of KP's was particularly odd as coach Andy Flower was looking at Pietersen to try and lead England to glory in the 2015 World Cup. Nevertheless, England regrouped quickly calling up Ian Bell to replace KP and Bell did not disappoint as he scored a century in his first game back. 

As England moved on to face South Africa in a vital test series, that sees the winners the number 1 ranked test team, the KP situation was resolved, or was it?

Shortly after the Headingly test match between England & South Africa, Pietersen launched an astonishing "attack" on the ECB in a press conference that was preceded by one of KP's finest innings. Pietersen threatened to quit playing cricket for England which left the whole cricketing world shocked.   

Yet, there was another twist in the tail as Pietersen released a YouTube video in which he reversed his retirement decision meaning that Pietersen was fully committed to playing cricket for England in all formats of the game because he "loved playing for England." Pietersen also stated that he will not play the full IPL tournament and that he was making himself available for the test matches against New Zealand in May 2013. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kiaZnXayjTQ

Alas, this tale does not end here. The YouTube video was released the day before England announced their squad for their vital, must-win test match. Everybody thought that this video will end all issues revolving Pietersen (me included), but how wrong we all were. Pietersen was shockingly dropped from the test squad due to allegedly sending derogatory texts to the South Africans that stated things about the England captain Andrew Strauss. He was replaced by Jonny Bairstow, who made a cracking 95. 

Since the announcement of the squad was made, Pietersen has apologized to the ECB for his actions and he will return to county duty for Surrey and is set to play in their CB40 game against  Hampshire on the 19th August. 

Is this the end of Kevin Pietersen?

My Verdict

There can be a lot of responses to the whole issue of Kevin Pietersen. As an England fan, I hate to see any England team without Kevin Pietersen, ultimately because it is a weaker side. However, what Pietersen did was wrong. Slating his own team mates is totally unacceptable and I can see why he was dropped, but in this situation could England afford to drop him? Pietersen came in on the back of a magnificent 149 at Headingly and I would have included him in the squad for the third test match purely because it was England's most crucial test match in recent times. This test match determined which team would be at the summit of test cricket and was too important to leave out anybody of KP's talent, England's strongest squad was needed. I can fully understand why Pietersen was dropped and in any other situation I would agree, but I think this test match is too important and vital to leave any of England's best players sitting out in the cold. Pietersen has apologized for his actions and I hope that these issues can be resolved quickly and I would love to see Pietersen in the final 15-man squad for the world T20 in September.