Kevin Pietersen

The tales of 'Beefy' Botham's booze-fueled bowling coup in Mumbai and Gibbs' hangover masterclass at the Wanderers are the stuff of legend; instances of such extraordinary talent, that even the laws of nature surrender to them.

Kevin Pietersen, of South African descent, was a similar precocious talent, bringing such inconceivable skill and swagger back into the gentleman's game for the first time since King Viv. Walking into the haughty world of English cricket, Kevin Pietersen was the quintessential rebel; an outcast destined to play for a team that just didn't hold with such brash nonsense.

Pietersen served his qualification period to play for England by 2005. In an orchestrated attempt at theatricality or by mere coincidence, as soon as Pietersen stepped into South Africa for his first major ODI series, controversy followed him. He had a volatile relationship with the South African crowds, who had turned hostile and viewed him as a 'traitor'. However, in his own signature devil-may-care fashion that would be his trademark over the remainder of his career, Pietersen remarked 'I just sat back and laughed at the crowd, with their swearing and traitor comments.' Furthermore, he reinforced his stature with the bat as well, and by the time he scored the last of his 454 runs in the 5 ODIs, the crowd treated him with growing respect rather than hatred.

In the 2005 Ashes, a man walked into the historic Oval in London, and gave us a glimpse of the signature uprising; a flash of peroxide highlights, tattoos, and flying cricket balls later, Australia found themselves staring at a target in excess of 300. A cocky, spoilt-looking bully had walked in with the lead at 73 and led an audacious counter-attack, scoring 158 and striking 7 sixes against an attack comprising of Brett Lee, Glenn McGrath, and Shane Warne. Australia had had a taste of their own medicine. Australia had to remain content with a draw and conceded the 2005 Ashes, thanks to a freak of an innings against the world's best bowling.

KP had arrived.

Having cemented his spot in the side, Pietersen continued to impress with decent numbers at home and away. He startled the crowd with his signature switch-hit, changing his stance at the last moment and audaciously slog-sweeping Muttiah Muralitharan for sixes in the home series against Sri Lanka in 2006. Pietersen earned the distinction of scoring centuries in 3 consecutive innings in that tour. Pietersen continued to pile on the runs at an alarming rate including a tally of 444 in the 2007 World Cup in just 9 games, earning him the nickname of the 'shining' in the team, 'like a 100 watt bulb in a room full of candles'. Alas, however, a clash in ideologies between the captain, the coach and the larger-than-the-game Pietersen started to get ugly.

After the resignation of Michael Vaughan, the natural successor to the job was Kevin Pietersen. His reign started auspiciously with a 4-0 whitewash of the South Africans in a home ODI series. This, however, proved to be a false dawn, as Pietersen's men were bull-dozed 5-0 in the ODI series in India, a seven-match series cut short by the notorious 26/11 terrorist attacks in Mumbai. In a commendable stand against terrorism, Pietersen decided to return to India to play the Test series, a closely fought affair which India ended up winning 1-0, thanks to a stupendous run-chase on a deteriorating Chennai track. Poor on-field showings caused drama off the field as Pietersen and coach Moores had a public falling out. Pietersen was granted his wish as Moores was sacked by the ECB, but so was Pietersen as on-field performances continued to disappoint. However, relationships remained strained as the newly-appointed coach Andy Flower and captain Strauss weren't in the best terms with Pietersen either.

In 2010, things seemed to be falling into place for England, as Pietersen and Cook piled on the runs for England, in their exemplary showing in the Ashes in Australia. Having missed the 2009 Ashes due to injury, Pietersen decided to compensate for it by scoring 360 runs at an average of 60, including his Test best of 227, and winning their first Ashes series in Australia after the turn of the millennium. After a few injury concerns, including a pivotal hernia causing his withdrawal from the 2011 World Cup in India, Pietersen returned to form in the home series against India, scoring 202* at Lord's in the historic 2000th Test and making the occasion his own. He went on to score 533 runs in England's 4-0 drubbing of Dhoni's men, at a Bradman-esque average 106.60, and once again played a pivotal role in a big moment for English cricket as they earned the Test championship mace from India to become the number 1 ranked Test side in the word.

Adding another feather to his already-decorated cap, Pietersen delivered a man of the tournament winning performance in England's 2010 World T20 victory in the Caribbean islands; a rare addition of an ICC trophy in their cabinet. Pietersen scored 248 runs at an average of 62, with a crucial 47 in the final.

The text message controversy followed Pietersen on the tour to South Africa, as he had allegedly sent South African players messages criticising his coach and captain. He went on to score a typically audacious 149, against a decorated South African attack, including 60 off 12 overs against Dale Steyn. He was dropped from the 3rd Test (obviously due to off-field reasons) against the Proteas after failing to defend himself about the text messages and England subsequently went on to concede their number 1 ranking in the process. Pietersen, however, followed a re-integration process recommended by the ECB, and completed the process to be in contention for the tour of India.

English cricket would be thanking their stars, for had it not been for KP, they would not have had an away win to celebrate. England went on to edge India 2-1 in the 4-match Test series, delivering their first series win in the country since 1985, scoring a pivotal 186 on a rank-turner in Mumbai – one of his finest innings in alien conditions till date.

Pietersen's batting started deteriorating in early 2013, with very few innings of note and rash dismissals. England's 2013 Ashes thrashing Down Under, as they buckled under the furious pace of Mitchell Johnson, was followed by habitual top-scorer Kevin Pietersen getting the sack after having played his 100th Test in the series owing to the need to reform 'team ethics and philosophy' and a controversial England career was brought to an abrupt and unceremonious end.

Pietersen remains a valuable asset in franchise-based T20 cricket around the world and currently plays for the Melbourne Stars in the Big Bash League. He contributed handsomely in the 6th edition of the league scoring 268 runs in 8 matches at an average of 38.29 but a surprisingly low strike-rate of 128. However, Pietersen remains a player who provides the psychological edge to the Stars and the remains the crucial X-factor player who has spent his entire life playing against the odds and - in his own words - 'sitting back and laughing at them'. That innate KP-ness of the man set him apart from the rest.

Regardless of the off-field controversies, Kevin Pietersen performed in all the big moments for his team in the last decade, and is undoubtedly, a great of the game.

Love him or hate him, you just can't ignore him. He was Kevin Pietersen - the man we loved to hate.

By Rishi Roy
As of December 2017