Kevin Pietersen says he has 'Bigger' things to do now
Updated - 20 Mar 2018, 01:06 PM
Kevin Pietersen once in international cricket was a name that every bowler from every country feared. Pietersen played 104 Tests and 136 ODI’s for England in a career which spanned over nine years. But only a few players have created such an impact on international cricket in this short span like Kevin Pietersen.
Pietersen’s flamboyant batting and his unorthodox way of playing the game earned him praises and criticism from the cricketing fraternity.
His unorthodox attitude towards the game could be described as one of the reasons for his downfall from international cricket.
Pietersen last played for England in the Ashes of 2013/14 where despite being England’s top scorer in the five Test matches, he was left out of the squad for the Caribbean tour.
The selection committee described this decision as a ‘Unanimous’ decision.
This decision was widely claimed as the end of Pietersen’s career until he released a statement:
“Although I am obviously very sad the incredible journey has come to an end, I’m also hugely proud of what we, as a team, have achieved over the past nine years.”
However, he continued to play franchise T20 cricket around the world, but the journey has finally come to an end. The 37-year-old has finally hung his boot and has called it quit.
Pietersen is England’s second highest run-getter.
Pietersen said that he has bigger things to do. He said:
“I’ve had enough. Twenty overs of fielding feels like playing a Test match so it’s time to hang up the boots. I’ve got better and bigger things to go on to now. I’ve had a wonderful career but I just don’t think I’ve got it in me to keep improving or try to improve.”
“Being a South African in an English dressing room is occasionally frowned upon but I felt incredibly accepted and I loved my career. I didn’t mind pressing buttons to try and achieve really good things and to get the best out of people I had to press buttons they didn’t like.”
“I think I can do something better now than scoring runs for England. There’s a huge issue in the world with trophy hunting…The England issue, yes, that was horrendous for a while but it allowed me to go back to Africa and rekindle my youth, rekindle my love affair with animals.”
“It was a horrible time, of course it was. But it’s water under the bridge, it’s time to move on and I don’t look back. I played 100 Test matches for England. If you’d asked me if I would even play first-class cricket or play at Lord’s I would have said, “Shut up”. ‘For me it was the most incredible experience, a lucky experience, but now I’ve got a second chapter which is a lot more important than hitting a cricket ball.”
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