Exclusive: Paul Nixon Believes Kevin Pietersen Wasn't Managed In The Right Manner By The ECB

England’s former wicketkeeper-batsman, Paul Nixon has opened up and shared his views on the Kevin Pietersen saga in 2012. In an exclusive interview with CricketAddictor.com, Paul Nixon stated that Kevin Pietersen had a lot more in him and he wasn’t rightly managed by the England Cricket Board (ECB).

Recently, former England skipper Michael Vaughan maintained that Pietersen was used as a ‘Scapegoat’ in 2012 after England’s loss to India in the Test series away from home. Kevin Pietersen’s exit from the English team remains to be one of the most controversial issues that England cricket has ever witnessed.

Now, Paul Nixon has also shared his views on the incident and has said that although Pietersen made some mistakes, he should’ve been appropriately managed.

Paul Nixon Reckons Kevin Pietersen Wasn’t Managed Properly By The ECB

“Kevin is a pal of mine, I enjoyed my time with him. Kevin was a bit of a maverick. Years ago he had amazing ability, he used to visualize a lot, he thought about the game in great detail. Kevin was very focussed, very self-confident, I felt he had a few more years in him for England but England wanted to have a culture. I don’t think he was managed brilliantly if I look back at that time,” Paul Nixon said.

“As a coach, our job is to manage all the players, we have got to get the best out of the players and that’s why we use different tools and personalized profiling is something that’s really important at the top level of cricket because it gives you an insight of what people values are, how to talk to people, which is a wonderful tool. I think if they had worked and looked at Kevin and worked at a deeper level with personalized profiling,” Paul added.

“If they would have understood Kevin as to what his values were, what he stands for, how he liked to be communicated, I think we would’ve got more of Kevin. He definitely made some mistakes and England have learnt from it and vice-versa,” said Paul Nixon.

Pietersen’s England Career Ended Prematurely

Pietersen’s international career ended prematurely after a breakdown in relations. Former England captain Michael Vaughan believes ECB failed to handle him properly. Pietersen was one of the most flamboyant hitters of the cricket ball. He was an exceptional talent. But once he returned to England after the tour things went from bad to worse in real quick time.

Vaughan also said that he felt that Pietersen was brought back to win the Test series in England and then all the blame was put on him when things went wrong during the Ashes series in Australia.

Also Read: Paul Nixon Backs England To Win T20 World Cup