You Can't Blame The IPL For The Demise Of Test Cricket In England – Kevin Pietersen

Former England captain Kevin Pietersen has said that the Indian Premier League (IPL) can’t be blamed for the demise of Test cricket in England.

England recently lost the Ashes 2021-22 series against Australia by 0-4 and after the defeat, several cricket pundits blamed IPL for England’s Ashes debacle. Even England great David Gower was “annoyed” after their Ashes defeat and he blamed IPL.

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Meanwhile, Kevin Pietersen has said “ it is stupid” to blame IPL for the downfall of Test cricket in England and added that the County Cricket System is something which is poor.

“It is stupid. You can’t blame the IPL for the demise of Test cricket in England. It’s crazy. I’ve commented on it quite a lot. It’s the system, it’s the county cricket system, which is poor. So there’s no blame,” Pietersen, who is representing World Giants in the Legends League Cricket here, said during an interaction here on Thursday.

He mentioned that only a few members of England’s Test playing XI regularly play IPL.

“It’s crazy to blame the Indian Premier League because if you have a look at the Test team, there’s only maybe (Ben) Stokes (Jonny) Bairstow and (Jos) Buttler who play the IPL. Hardly any of the Test team players play the IPL. So how can you blame the IPL? You can’t blame the IPL. It’s crazy,” he added.

I’ve never played in a bubble, I can’t imagine but I think it must be very lonely – Kevin Pietersen

The England players were involved in controversy off the field after a report asserted that there was a “drinking culture” in the team with the players and coaches drinking late into the night before police broke up the session. Pietersen while talking about this matter said:

“It’s stressful. It’s incredibly stressful. I’ve never played in a bubble. I can’t imagine but I think it must be very lonely. You’re not allowed to go to coffee shops. You’re not allowed to go down to the restaurants, you’re not allowed to do anything. And what else do you do? So I’m sure that the guys must have tried to find some sort of social activities in whichever way that they deem fit.”

“We’ll see, we’ll see. Maybe one day,” said Kevin Pietersen when asked if he sees himself as a batting coach of the side one day.

Meanwhile, Pietersen also labelled India as a global conservative leader in saving one-horned rhinos. He mentioned that the population of rhinos in Africa is declining and it’s completely opposite in India.

“Being a conservationist, I spend a lot of time in Africa. The rhino population is declining there and in India, the rhino population is on the way up,” he said.

“When I start to see the contrast between what’s happening in Africa and India, I find India is a conservation leader. It’s a global conservation leader and more power to India because that’s the kind of stuff that I absolutely love,” he said.

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