England’s Pietersen dilemma – Opinion
‘It’s tough being me’ were the final words of http://www.senore.com/Cricket/South-Africa-c757 and the subsequent World T20.
Since then, the controversial batsman has enhanced his analytical skills by taking the commentary role for the recently concluded World T20, a campaign for which he remained a vital cog of the national side that emerged victorious just a couple of years
ago.
His outspoken nature has always led him into trouble, most famously during his short and unfruitful captaincy stint under Coach http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Peter-Moores-c81848, which resulted in both men losing their respective jobs. However, much needed change was guaranteed by Andy Flower
and http://www.senore.com/Cricket/AJ-Strauss-c964, whose focus not only revolved around winning, but to embed a culture of success, and more importantly player harmony – the results are bound to follow.
That philosophy indeed reaped greater goods for the team, which went onto become one of the formidable sides in the world, only to fall down swiftly in recent months after rumours of disintegration among senior players made rounds, the center of it being
none other than KP.
A South African-born talent, it is unfair to suggest that the problem stems from the fact that he is non-English. The likes of http://www.senore.com/Cricket/C-Kieswetter-c1206 and even Strauss have all been foreign imports but have settled into the system perfectly.
In Pietersen’s case though, it is fair to say that players of additional ability remain tough to handle. He might not offer more than Trott or http://www.senore.com/Cricket/AN-Cook-c1026 in terms of numbers, but his way of taking a game away from an opponent is what makes him stand out
– an example of which was the ferocious ton in his last Test at Headingley.
That sort of knock not only uplifts the team, but gets the fans going, as a longer-version game certainly test one’s patience. The backdrop nonetheless, remains that the player tends to think himself as bigger than the team and therefore, it gives rise to
a dilemma of conflict of interest.
With all sort of T20 cricket floating around, and the money and love involved, one often gets blindfolded about his priorities, which eventually leads him to feel superior from his teammates. Even if it is not the case, the http://www.senore.com/Cricket/George-Sharp-c59621 nature of cricket today
does seem to heal founds instantly as a mistake can easily be followed by an immediate apology, via social networks.
That leaves little room for the concerned parties to talk their way out, and leads to a stand-off, as witnessed in KP’s case. However, whatever the future holds for the player and ECB, both know the importance of each other as http://www.senore.com/Cricket/England-c56013 found out that they
are an all-too different outfit without him, and the player understands that playing only T20 cricket may not be the way to go forward.
The integration process has begun already, and despite the player getting a four-month contract, it is still unclear what the future holds for arguably the most destructive batsman in world cricket. ECB has ensured that they will not make the mistake they
did in handling KP-Moores saga, and has backed http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Andrew-Flower-c44362 to sort out the mess on a step by step basis. One simply does not need to go in detail of what went wrong as for everyone; the most important thing is to see KP donning the English colours once again.
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