India Calling: England better with Pietersen than without [Part 1]
Nothing poses as daunting a challenge to the England cricket team as a tour of India – the final frontier, where the Poms come face to face with their worst fears – the unpredictable pitches of the subcontinent, and the wily spinners who befuddle the English
batsmen with their “mystery”.
While England are widely acknowledged as one of the best Test sides in the world of cricket, and have held the http://www.senore.com/Cricket/South-Africa-c757), their good fortune has not
held in the subcontinent. Out of the total 13 Test series the Poms have played in India against the home team, they have only managed to win 4, and their last Test series win in India was back in 1984/1985.
Recent records show that the Poms are nowhere near conquering their fear of spin – an ODI series in India last year culminated in a 0-5 defeat for England. Earlier this year, they were whitewashed 0-3 during a Test series, by http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755 in the United Arab
Emirates, and followed that up with a miserable show during the ICC World Twenty20 in Sri Lanka this September/October, where they failed to defend their title, and crashed out of the tournament without managing to reach the semis.
The Poms suffered their worst defeats in the Word T20 tournament at the hands of sub-continental teams – they lost by 90 runs against India, and their final match in the competition was played against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Sri-Lanka-c758 and culminated in a 19-run defeat.
England lifted the World T20 cup in the 2010 edition of the tournament which was played in the Caribbean. The pitches were equally, if not more, difficult to play on as the Sri Lankan surfaces – yet the team had a weapon in 2010 which they lacked this time
around – star batsman http://www.senore.com/Cricket/KP-Pietersen-c1806.
The 32-year-old had put in stellar performances during the previous World T20, and finished as the Payer of the Tournament. However, a series of unfortunate events prevented his participation in the tournament this time around. Embroiled in a convoluted
and well-publicised spat with the England and Wales Cricket Board, Pietersen found himself dropped from the squad, and since then, the Poms have gone on to suffer defeat after defeat.
After scoring a match-saving century in the second Test of the 3-match series against South Africa, Pietersen’s commitment to the England team was called into question, following the revelation that he had sent text messages containing questionable content
to members of the rival Proteas team. He was subsequently dropped from the squad for the third Test and the Poms went on to lose the series, along with their top Test team ranking.
The situation remained unresolved, and Pietersen was not picked for the World T20. Throughout all this, England touted a variety of batsmen as suitable replacements for KP, but while http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Alex-Hales-c985
emerged as a promising young talent, the fact remained that none of them had the http://www.senore.com/Cricket/XJ-Doherty-c2804 factor Kevin Pietersen does. There was just something missing.
As frustratingly stubborn and rebellious as he is hugely talented, Pietersen is undeniably among the most exciting batsmen to emerge from the England set-up. While he has shared a strained relationship with the England and Wales Cricket Board, his undeniable
worth dawned upon the board after the recent failures the team suffered in his absence, and a series of meetings were arranged between the two parties. A resolution was eventually reached - Pietersen made his way back into the http://www.senore.com/Cricket/England-c749 team, and was included
in the squad for the upcoming tour of http://www.senore.com/Cricket/India-c750.
Continued in Part 2 ...
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