India Calling: England better with Pietersen than without [Part 2]
Continued from Part 1 ...
Due to kick off in November, with a 4-match Test series, followed by 2 T20Is and 5 ODIs, the tour of India is nothing short of battle for the England team, and they will need all hands on deck. If played right, belligerent batsman http://www.senore.com/Cricket/KP-Pietersen-c1806 could be
England’s trump card in India. Almost impervious to the spin disability which the rest of his teammates suffer from, Pietersen has a formidable record in Tests, and a fantastic record against India.
With a well-know ambition to reach 10,000 Test runs, 30 centuries and a Test average of 50, Pietersen appears to be well on his way. Since making his Test debut in 2005 against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Australia-c746 at Lord's, Pietersen has gone on to play a total of 88 Test matches
for England. Currently, he has 7076 runs at an average of 49.48, and 21 centuries to his credit – these include 3 double centuries, one of which was an unbeaten 202 against India at Lord’s last year in July.
Out of the 88 Tests he has played, 12 have been played against India. Pietersen has scored a total of 1243 Test runs for England against India, including 5 of his 21 centuries, and has an average of 62.15 against the sub-continental giants.
Pietersen’s first Test series against India in India was in March 2006 – a series of three matches, played at Nagpur, Mohali, and http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Mumbai-c820 respectively, the right-hander featured in all three, and contributed a total of 216 runs. His second extended-overs
series in http://www.senore.com/Cricket/India-c750 was during December 2008, during which Pietersen smashed a massive 144 at Mohali. A batsman of such calibre can do nothing but benefit England as they look to take on the Indian team on their home ground.
In addition to his stats with the national team, another reason why Pietersen is bound to strengthen the http://www.senore.com/Cricket/England-c749 XI considerably against India is that frequent bone of contention between him and the ECB – the Indian Premier League.
Among one of the keenest participants in the Indian Premier League T20 tournament, Pietersen has frequently rued the busy national schedule which does not leave him time to put in a full season during the IPL – the factor that led him to briefly announce
his retirement from international limited-overs cricket earlier this year. His enthusiasm for the IPL has never sat well with the ECB, which has maintained a hostile attitude towards the lucrative tournament which is played out every year with much fanfare,
and his request to skip the Test series against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/New-Zealand-c754 next year in order to play a full IPL season was one of the factors which worsened his relationship with the ECB earlier this year.
Nevertheless, while the board may turn their noses up at the IPL, the fact remains that participation in the tournament has lent Pietersen a touch of experience in Indian conditions, which many of his teammates might lack.
He played a total of 13 matches while affiliated with the Royal Challengers Bangalore franchise, during which he scored 329 runs at an average of 32.90, with an unbeaten 66 being his highest score. During his stint with the http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Delhi-c780 Daredevils in this year’s
edition of the IPL, Pietersen played a total of 8 matches, during which he scored 305 runs at an average of 61.00, with an unbeaten 103 being his highest score. While the 32-year-old has not been able to play a full season of the IPL, mostly owing to national
commitments, the experience he has gained could prove valuable for England in India.
Former England captain http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Andrew-Flintoff-c44360 has rightly pointed out that the recent controversy, which led to a fair amount of bad feeling between Pietersen, the board, and his England teammates, will take time to die down. However, he has also rightly stated
that the issue is likely to fade into the distance if England manage to do well in India.
Backing Pietersen to deliver during the upcoming tour, Flintoff highlighted the fact that Pietersen has performed superbly when faced with opposition and animosity, as was revealed during his first series for England in http://www.senore.com/Cricket/South-Africa-c757. Continuously branded
a traitor during the series, the South African born Pietersen went on to smash a string of centuries, despite the hostilities directed at him from the crowd. While this time around, the contention is likely to come from within the camp rather than without,
Pietersen is bound to be up to the challenge, and feature as one of England’s key players in India.
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