Kevin Pietersen

Kevin Peter Pietersen, MBE (born 27 June 1980) is a South African-born English cricketer. He is a right-handed batsman and occasional off spin bowler who formerly played for England and currently plays for Surrey as well as Twenty20 in the Indian Premier League for Sunrisers Hyderabad , in the Caribbean Premier League for St Lucia Zouks and in the Big Bash League for Melbourne Stars.

Contents

• Kevin Pietersen names his top 5 batsmen
• Kevin Pietersen Single Handedly Takes Down Australia England v Australia ODI 2005 Highlights
• Early and personal life
• Career in 2010
• Career in 2011
• Career in 201314
• References

Pietersen was born in Pietermaritzburg, Natal Province, South Africa. He made his first-class debut for Natal in 1997 before moving to England, after voicing his displeasure at the racial quota system in place in South Africa. His English mother made him eligible to play for England and after serving a qualifying period of four years playing at county level, he was called up almost immediately into the national side. He made his international debut in the One Day International match against Zimbabwe in 2004 and his Test match debut in the 2005 Ashes series against Australia the following year.

The England teams subsequent reliance on Pietersen resulted in only a single first-class appearance for Hampshire between 2005 and 2010. On 17 June 2010, Pietersen announced his wish to leave Hampshire and he subsequently joined Surrey on loan for the remainder of the season before joining the club permanently from the 2011 season onwards.

He was captain of the England Test and ODI teams from 4 August 2008 to 7 January 2009 but resigned after just three Tests and nine ODIs, following a dispute with England coach Peter Moores, who was sacked the same day. His relationship with the ECB never fully recovered. This came to a head in 2012 when, after a disagreement over his schedule, Pietersen announced his retirement from all forms of international limited-overs cricket on 31 May. Although he later retracted his retirement, his relationship with both the ECB and his team-mates soured during the series against South Africa and he was dropped for the final Test of that series.

Pietersen became the fastest batsman to reach both 1,000 and 2,000 runs in One Day International cricket He has the second-highest run total from his first 25 Tests, behind only the Australian Sir Donald Bradman, and was the fastest player, in terms of days, to reach 4,000, 5,000 and 7,000 Test runs. He became only the third English batsman to top the ICC One Day International rankings, doing so in March 2007. In July 2008, after a century against South Africa, called him "the most complete batsman in cricket" and in 2012 called him "Englands greatest modern batsman".

Pietersen last played for England in the 2013-14 Ashes and subsequent ODIs, after which he was informed that he was no longer being considered for international selection.

In the 2014 Indian Premier League, he was signed by the Delhi Daredevils IPL team for 1.5 million USD, and he captained the team for this season.

Kevin Pietersen was also signed by the Melbourne Stars in 2014–15 Big Bash League season, with a contract for 2 years as the no.3 batsmen. He has been called the greatest signing in the 2014–15 Big Bash League season by Ten Network. On 18 December 2014, Kevin Pietersen played his first match in 2014–15 Big Bash League season as the no.3 batsmen. He made 66 runs off 41 balls and he also took a catch at point to dismiss Head off Hastings.

In the 2015 Indian Premier League auction, Kevin Pietersen was bought by Sunrisers Hyderabad for 2 Crore Rupees.

Early and personal life

Pietersen was born to an English mother, Penny, and an Afrikaner father, Jannie. Pietersen had a strict and well-disciplined childhood, along with his three brothers Tony, Greg and Bryan; he learned valuable lessons from this "fantastic" approach to parenting, and said: "Discipline is good. It taught me that I didnt always have to have what I wanted; that what I needed was different from what I wanted." Bryan plays club and second XI cricket in England.

Pietersen attended Maritzburg College, Pietermaritzburg, and made his first-class cricket debut for Natals B team in 1997, aged 17, where he was regarded predominantly as an off spin bowler and a hard-hitting lower-order batsman. After two seasons, he moved to England for a five-month spell as the overseas player for club side Cannock CC, helping them win the Birmingham and District Premier League in 2000. This first spell away from home did not leave him with fond memories for England, in particular "those horrible Black Country accents" referring to the dialect of the West Midlands, living in a single room above a squash court, and working in the club bar. However, he returned to newly renamed KwaZulu Natal side a better cricketer; a lack of opportunities to bowl had improved his batting.

Having seen Pietersen play at a school cricket festival, Clive Rice invited him to sign for Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club. Pietersen accepted without hesitation, keen to make the most of top-class cricket under a coach for whom he had the utmost admiration. He did not at this stage contemplate forsaking his nation; nor had it yet occurred to him that the decision would eventually have to be taken.

Pietersen is widely portrayed in the media as having a self-assured personality, described by Geoffrey Boycott as being "cocky and confident". Former England test captain Michael Vaughan counters this, saying, "KP is not a confident person. He obviously has great belief in his ability but thats not quite the same thing... And I know KP wants to be loved. I try to text him and talk to him as often as I can because I know he is insecure." He has been noted for unusual haircuts, with his peroxide blond dyed streak of hair along the middle of his head during the 2005 Ashes series being described as a "dead skunk" look. During the 2006–07 Ashes tour, the Australian team, noted for their efforts to dominate opponents psychologically, dubbed him "The Ego", or "FIGJAM" (F*** Im Good, Just Ask Me). Other nicknames include "KP", "Kelves" and "Kapes".