Pressure will bring out the best in Pietersen: Flintoff – Cricket News Update
Former England skipper http://www.senore.com/Cricket/KP-Pietersen-c1806, who is likely to return with a bang as he makes a comeback to the national squad for the upcoming tour of
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/India-c750 – his first match for England after 73 days in exile.
“When Kevin's got a point to prove he usually proves it with the bat,” Flintoff said while speaking to the
BBC. “I think http://www.senore.com/Cricket/AN-Cook-c1026 might benefit from all this. He might get KP at his best.
“When people get on Kevin's case he comes out swinging and scoring runs,” he added. He went on to refer to Pietersen’s first ODI series against the Proteas – being South African-born, playing for England in the country of his birth against the Proteas team
saw Pietersen repeatedly targeted by the crowds. However, the right-hander paid no heed, and went on to score three centuries (two of them unbeaten) and one half-century during the 7-match ODI series.
“We saw that when he came into the one-day international game in http://www.senore.com/Cricket/South-Africa-c757 and he just kept scoring hundreds. I think Kev will be fine,” Flintoff pointed out.
Pietersen, among England’s most devastating batsmen, with 7076 runs and 21 centuries from 88 Tests, has a history of brushes with the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), but the worst stand-off between the player and the management was sparked earlier
this year, which led to Pietersen’s axing from the national team. With his commitment to England called into question after he retired from international limited-overs cricket earlier this year, he was alleged to have sent text messages of a questionable nature
to members of the South African team, which was touring England, this summer.
Although he apologised, insisting that the messages had not contained either tactical advice or derogatory comments about then skipper http://www.senore.com/Cricket/AJ-Strauss-c964, as had previously been alleged, Pietersen was axed from the squad for the final Test against the Proteas,
and also did not feature in http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Sri-Lanka-c758.
Added to his tiff with the management were rumours regarding animosity between Pietersen and his England teammates – he went on to confirm that a degree of hostility existed between himself and his fellows in the dressing room, and the situation became apparent
when Pietersen accused several of his teammates for having created a spoof Twitter account with the sole intent to mock him.
The issue was eventually resolved via meetings with the ECB, which granted Pietersen a central contract, and stated that the 32-year-old would be put through a “reintegration” programme designed to ease him back into the team. A series of recent talks with
team management and senior players led to Pietersen being named in England’s squad for the upcoming tour of India.
Stating that Pietersen needed careful handling, as a player and as a person, Flintoff claimed that his cricketing abilities were impressive enough to encourage selectors to overlook the more troublesome aspects of his personality.
“He is different but if you want Kevin the player, you have Kevin (the person as well),” said Flintoff. “I think his qualities as a player outweigh everything, like everyone else he needs a bit of encouragement.”
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