Andrew Strauss is confident of Kevin Pietersen’s comeback
Kevin Pietersen received a clean chit from the English medical staff after he injured his ankle in the practice session before the start of the first test against Pakistan at Trent Bridge, Nottingham. KP is making a comeback after he was rested in England’s home series against Bangladesh. After the training session, Kevin was seen strapping up his right ankle and foot. English captain Andrew Strauss quickly down played the media reports which had suggested that Pietersen might miss the first test against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755. KP received an ankle problem after he strayed on a football during England’s practice session.
It is not for the first time that an English player caused himself trouble because of a football. It was the main reason why England had recently banned its players from playing football during practice sessions. Owais Shah once injured his team mate Joe Denly by tackling him down during a practice session while playing a game of soccer. English skipper Strauss said, “I think we’ve just got to ban footballs being on the ground because they’re still causing problems even though we’re not playing it.”
Kevin Pietersen’s recent form has worried the selectors and team management. It’s almost a year since KP scored his last test century for England. The South African born English star Kevin recently made headlines for his controversy with county club Hampshire. The English captain however is not worried because of his prime batsman’s poor form. Strauss believes that KP will make a strong comeback since he is fresh and has all the necessary ingredients of a fighting batsman.
Strauss said, “I’m not concerned particularly about his lack of cricket. He is a guy who spends a lot of time in the nets practising and for someone like him, being in the right state of mind mentally is as important as anything. He’s in a good state of mind, he has had a good rest, he has the bit between his teeth. I think he wants to come out and prove himself again and I think he’ll have a really good series.”
England’s team management and selection committee wanted Kevin to play a warm up match before joining the national team but he was dropped by his county team Hampshire. The county club did not pick KP in their squad since Kevin had shown his intentions to leave http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Hampshire-c789 at the end of the season.
Andrew Strauss hopes that Kevin will provide his best performance in the upcoming series, irrespective of his recent controversy with Hampshire. Andrew thinks that county clubs should see the bigger picture and allow English players to get in rhythm, but he also admitted that, KP’s statements with regards to his future commitment had complicated the situation with Hampshire’s management. "I implore the counties to realise the importance of a good, strong England team - and even though temporarily that might be difficult, it's helping both England cricket and indirectly those counties as well. In that sense I was disappointed - although I can understand their reticence, given KP's comments about what he planned to do in the future." Strauss added.
Strauss is already facing injury issues in the form of Ian Bell and http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Bangladesh-c747.
Andrew’s counterpart Salman Butt is not facing any injury problems. Pakistan captain is missing the services of his prime test batsmen Mohammad Yousuf and Younis Khan. Butt has however, shown his desire to lead http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Salman-c88163 recently stated that he would like to give his young guns a longer run.
Pakistan has started its four test match series against England which will be followed by two T20 and five ODI matches. Pakistan recently played a home series against Australia in England. The series was played in a neutral venue because of security problems in Pakistan. England will get a final chance to get their act together against Pakistan after which they will play the Ashes Series against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Australia-c746.
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