Being Kevin Pietersen
Kevin Pietersen may have had an ordinary tour of South Africa but he's not lost any confidence in his own abilities
Nitin Sundar
25-Feb-2013
Kevin Pietersen may have had an ordinary tour of South Africa but he's not lost any confidence in his own abilities. That and other reflections in his revealing interview with Lawrence Booth in the Wisden Cricketer.
You scarcely need to read between the lines: Pietersen still sees himself as England’s main man, despite averaging 25 in the four Tests; and the conviction runs so deep it slips out as instinctively as one of his flamingo whips to leg. Despite all he has been through, Pietersen’s subconscious is still doing the talking.
It is not long before he is at it again. This time the subject is his position in the batting order – mainly No.4 since he moved up a spot for the second innings at Melbourne in 2006-07. The question – “Doesn’t your best player bat at three?” – may be ingenuously leading but the answer warms to the theme. “Kallis bats four for South Africa, doesn’t he? So that doesn’t ring true. And I bat four for England. What number does Yousuf bat for Pakistan? Four? Ponting’s three – but he’s probably the only one. He plays on good wickets, mind you. I’ll bat three there [on Australian pitches], no problem.”
Nitin Sundar is a sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo