http://www.senore.com/Cricket/KP-Pietersen-c1806: The player to watch out for India – Opinion
England’s premier batsman, Kevin Pietersen, having spent three months away from international cricket, is back in the national team for their all-important tour of India, which officially kicks-off from November 15, with the first
Test at Ahmedabad.
Since making his international debut in 2004, the lanky South Africa born batsman has been an integral part of the England side in all formats of the game.
Arguably, Pietersen has been influential in changing the Poms’ fortunes at the ultimate level of the game, as they struggled to deliver the goods consistently in the 1990s and the early-2000s. The stylish right-hander brought a sense
of aggression to the English team, which helped them win the Ashes at home in 2005.
The Poms have won just a single http://www.senore.com/Cricket/ICC-World-Cup-2011-c100625 global tournament till date, when they dismantled the rest of the world in the ICC World T20 2010 in the Caribbean. That would not have been possible without the hard-hitting batsman, who architected
the victory for his side, being named as the Player of the Tournament. His absence hampered England’s chances to defend the title in 2012, as http://www.senore.com/Cricket/SCJ-Broad-c2465 and company did not look like the same team without their ace batsman and failed to even qualify for
the semi-finals.
The 32-year-old cricketer was scandalously ousted from the http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Allan-Robert-Border-c43726
de Villiers, which allegedly ridiculed some of the team-mates, including the then captain, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/AJ-Strauss-c964.
The left-handed opener’s retirement from competitive cricket however, has paved the way for Pietersen’s comeback to the national team. Strauss’ successor, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/AN-Cook-c1026, has enjoyed good terms with Pietersen over the years, which
is the reason why the http://www.senore.com/Cricket/India-c750.
Cook is expecting the right-handed middle-order batsman to play a vital role in the four-match Test series, taking into account his vast experience of international cricket. Pietersen has already scored a couple of fascinating centuries
this year and the left-handed batsman wants him to replicate those performances against the Men in Blue.
“I want him to come back into the side as he was to score match-winning runs like he did in Colombo, like he did at Headingley,” Cook believes.
One of Pietersen’s former teammates, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Simon-Jones-c2531, is also confident that the dashing player is going to make a huge impression in India, because of his ability to make it count when it matters the most.
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Jones-c69217 thinks that Pietersen’s inclusion has bolstered the England batting line-up, which is expected to be tested by the Indian spinners.
“He is a big-match player who loves the world stage. He has a great presence and the Indians would have much preferred to have played England without him,” said the former fast bowler. “He is a genius in my eyes because there are
not too many batsmen who leave a bowler wondering where they can bowl to him.”
Over the years, the stylish batsman has always done well under pressure. Taking into account the futile Indian bowling attack, the cricket fans would not be surprised to see the great batsman piling up huge runs in the upcoming competition
and silence his critics in style.
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