subject: Kevin Pietersen Profile [print this page] Kevin Pietersen Profile Kevin Pietersen Profile
He's tall, he's loud, he's brash ... but "KP" is also a superb batsman, capable of annexing most of England's Test records before he's done. He reached 1000 one-day runs in just 21 matches - equalling Viv Richards' record - while he made more runs in his first 25 Tests than anyone else except Don Bradman. He's strong on the drive, with a crunching pull and hook, while his signature shot is the "flamingo" - a wristy pull-drive played with back foot balletically off the ground. There's also the switch-hit reverse sweep, which needed a ruling on its legality from MCC.
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Kevin Pietersen Profile
Kevin Pietersen Profile
Pietersen's career path has been unconventional, starting with his decision to quit South Africa in protest at a racial-quota system which, he felt, was hindering him. Back then he was seen more as an offspinner who could bat a bit, but in county cricket it was immediately apparent that description was back to front. The runs flowed, and it was no surprise when, as soon as he was eligible, he played one-dayers for England in Zimbabwe late in 2004. A good display there resulted in a late call-up for the tour that followed in South Africa, where Pietersen clouted three superb centuries to silence crowds which booed him as a turncoat.
Test cricket beckoned, and he made his debut under more pressure, being preferred to the 100-Test veteran Graham Thorpe for the 2005 Ashes. Pietersen started with two half-centuries at Lord's, then ensured the return of the urn after 17 years with a stroke-filled 158 at The Oval. The next five years were a whirl of runs and celebrity engagements, plus a short-lived tilt at the England captaincy. That started well, with a century and victory against South Africa at The Oval in 2008, but ended in recriminations early the following year after a falling-out with the coach, Peter Moores. Pietersen recommended, rather too publicly, that Moores be removed ... and got his way, only to be summarily sacked as well.
The flak probably affected Pietersen more than he cared to admit. Before the captaincy debacle, abuse had rarely fazed him. Early on he reacted to some banter in a club game in Australia by announcing that it was bad form to sledge the man of the match before he'd batted: money followed mouth with a century. Occasionally the show-off does win out, as in the first Ashes Test of 2009 at Cardiff, when an extraordinary swipe at Nathan Hauritz's underestimated offspin clipped his helmet and plopped obligingly into short leg's hands.
Injuries have been a worry - that 2009 Ashes campaign was cut short by leg trouble that needed surgery - but when fit and fired up Pietersen is a bowler's nightmare, and the wicket England's opponents crave the most. Latterly he has sometimes looked bored with domestic cricket, quitting Hampshire after 2009 as, he said, it was too far from the Chelsea home which, just to hammer home the celebrity lifestyle he now enjoys, Pietersen shares with his pop-singer wife Jessica.
Full name Kevin Peter Pietersen
Born June 27, 1980, Pietermaritzburg, Natal
Current age 30 years 162 days
Major teams England, Dolphins, Hampshire, ICC World XI, KwaZulu-Natal, Natal, Nottinghamshire, Royal Challengers Bangalore, Surrey
