Pietersen calls Australia “a wounded animal”
England prolific batsman Kevin Pietersen, who has been struggling for form over the past few months, has termed Australian as a "wounded animal" ahead of the much waited Ashes series which starts in Gabba, Brisbane from 25th of
November.
Australia has recently returned from subcontinent after receiving a severe hammering at the hands of India. During the devastating tour of India, Australia lost both the Test and one-day series against India. The 2-0 Test whitewash pulled
the mighty Aussies a ranking behind their Ashes rivals on the ICC Test rankings table – fifth, their lowest Test rankings.
After Australia’s mauling at the hands of http://www.senore.com/Cricket/India-c750, many have tipped England as favourite for this year’s Ashes. England has not won a test series against Australia in Australia since 1986-87. But it has always been tough for the teams to defeat
Aussies in front of their home crowd and this is what Pietersen feels.
"They are, in Australia, a very, very tough team to beat," said Pietersen. "They're a wounded animal at the moment, and you know what happens when animals get wounded, they turn into fearsome predators. Let's hope that we can play well enough
to conquer that," he added.
The 30-year-old prolific English batsman has averaged just 36.90 since the start of last year's Ashes series played in England. Pietersen, struggling with his form, has not made a Test ton since http://www.senore.com/Cricket/March-c74391 2009. Besides struggling for form, Pietersen
has been struggling for a place in the national side over the past few months. He was dropped from the side in the midst of series against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755 this summer. Despite all this, Pietersen has shrugged off any qualms pertaining his form.
"Every single time I've played against Australia for the month leading into it and days leading up to the first Test, there's a lot of things which get said which have absolutely no bearing on what happens after the first ball's bowled,"
said Pietersen.
He further added that he is not at all ready to get involved into the war of words or add fuel to fire which his opponents might have started. The promising hard-hitter said that he just wants to play some really tough, hard and competitive
cricket and challenge himself against the Australia on Australian grounds.
During their last Ashes tour to http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Australia-c746, England was handed a 5-0 whitewash by the Australians but this time Strauss’ men under Andy Flower’s coaching are there with high hopes and morale boosted by a triumphant summer at home.
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