Kevin Pietersen

Profile

South Africa’s loss became England’s gain when a frustrated Kevin Pietersen left his birthplace Natal for Hampshire, annoyed by the former’s quota system. After four mandatory years of county, the predestined England call-up quickly arrived in 2004.

Debuting on tour to Zimbabwe, KP’s 104 runs in three ODI innings were enough to retain his place in the one-day side for the series against South Africa and Australia-Bangladesh. Consistent ODI performances advocated a Test call-up for the 2005 Ashes. His fearless stroke-play made him the top-scorer in the series, playing a major role in England reclaiming the Ashes for the first time in two decades. Consistent performances in 2007 cemented his place in all forms of the game. A strong player on the drive, KP is a beautiful player of the hook and pull, while his signature “Flamingo” shot and the switch-hit reverse sweep is a spectator’s delight.

When Michael Vaughan and Paul Collingwood gave up their roles as captains in the longer and shorter forms of the game respectively, the role was offered to Pietersen. Defeat in his first Test as captain was overcome when he led England to a 2-1 ODI series win at native South Africa. Backroom differences with then coach Peter Moores led to Moores’ sacking and Pietersen’s resignation, ending his short stint as captain. An achilles injury served as a much needed break in his rigorous career, and he made a successful England return for retaining the Ashes in 2009. The year proved additionally fruitful when he was again one of the star performers in the Lions’ ICC World T20 Cup win in 2010. What followed was a successful 2010-11 Ashes campaign down under, where he ended a 20-month long wait for an international ton and followed it up with an Ashes win in Australia in 24 years.

KP was unfortunately ruled out of the 2011 ICC Cricket World Cup due to a hernia injury, which subsequently made him unavailable for that year's IPL. However, in 2012, he was transferred to the Delhi from his former franchise, Hyderabad. The following year, he was once again ruled out of the IPL following a knee injury picked up during England's tour of New Zealand.

Fast Facts

• Kevin Pietersen holds the record for being the fastest to reach both 1,000 and 2,000 runs in One Day International cricket.
• He is the quickest in terms of time to record 5,000 Test runs, taking him 4 years and 234 days.
• KP has the second-highest run total from his first 25 Tests, behind only the Australian Donald Bradman.
• He’s the eighth England player to score a half-century in each innings on his debut, and the third cricketer to do so at Lord's.
• Pietersen was named ICC ODI Player of the Year as well as Emerging Player of the Year in 2005.

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Career

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