Kevin Pietersen plays down perception of his ODI demise – Cricket News Update
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/KP-Pietersen-c1806, the top-order English batsman, has come hard against the critics who claimed that his ODI career is rushing towards doom after his ouster from Team England’s ongoing 50-over series against India. He is confident of becoming an instrumental
part of his team’s upcoming tour to India which will have five ODIs.
The dashing batsman argued that the rest given to him will prove to be helpful for the English in retaining their newly acquired top Test slot in International rankings and gain the No 1 position in the ODI format too.
Pietersen, who played a key role in his team’s 4-0 whitewash in the recently-concluded Test series with 202 not out in the first innings of the 1st Test at Lord’s, has been put on rest by the national selectors in the ongoing 5-match ODI series.
But some critics opine that his rest is due to his low averages in the limited-over format over the last couple of years.
Pietersen’s ODI form has been called into question for many times since the dawn of the calendar year. His early exit from the race of http://www.senore.com/Cricket/ICC-World-Cup-2011-c100625 Cricket World Cup 2011 is also linked to his poor ODI form despite a hernia problem as the apparent cause.
On the other hand, the batsman has made many iconic marks in Test cricket this year.
Backfiring against his critics, Pietersen said, “I’ve got two Twenty20s versus the http://www.senore.com/Cricket/West-Indies-c760 later this month at The Oval and then we leave on October 3 for the one-day series in India, which is five ODIs and a Twenty20. I’d love to play in all six games
in http://www.senore.com/Cricket/India-c750.”
He further told, “There’s no doubt that England’s success is also partly down to the fact that the players are rested when they can. International cricket can be a constant slog. I think India have got to that point now.”
The right hander is now preparing himself for his team’s India tour that is due in October 2011. However, his selection is still not confirmed.
The 31-year-old cricketer has played 78 Tests, 119 ODIs and 32 T20Is so far, scoring 6361, 3733 and 1011 runs respectively in the three formats.
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