Pietersen mixes with the mortals

Paul Weaver writes in the Guardian that Kevin Pietersen, England's recently deposed captain and IPL millionaire, remains keen to prove his credentials as a team man.

On this tour Pietersen has been admirable, both as a player and in his exaggerated efforts to show himself to be a team man. The paradox is that he is a man apart, that the harder he tries to swim towards his fellows the more the strong tides of his breathtaking talent, his driven personality, his South African background and his fast-swelling bank balance carry him off to a distant island.

England had learnt overnight that they possessed the two most valuable cricketers in the world in Kevin Pietersen and Andrew Flintoff, but the judgment of a bunch of rich Indian businessmen counted for little in the heat of Sabina Park, says Michael Atherton in the Times.

Tony Cozier writes in the Trinidad and Tobago Express that Ramnaresh Sarwan’s century, and his stand of 202 with captain Chris Gayle, were as important to Sarwan’s peace of mind as to the West Indies’ cause.