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When Kevin Pietersen last played for KwaZulu Natal, in 1999/2000, his main trade was offspin and he normally batted at No
Nitin Sundar
25-Feb-2013
When Kevin Pietersen last played for KwaZulu Natal, in 1999/2000, his main trade was offspin and he normally batted at No. 10. Now, as he returns to the country he once left for greener pastures, a lot has changed - both personally for Pietersen, and for South African cricket. Rob Houwing, writing in sport24.co.za, notes the irony.
The Dolphins team Pietersen “guests” for pretty shortly will be light years more representative, when you consider that a 20-man squad announced for the campaign recently contains at least a dozen black players and Imraan Khan as captain.
Just as tellingly, though, the South African national landscape, certainly as far as Tests are concerned, was arguably less promising then than it is now: Australia remained very imperiously atop the pile a decade back, whereas the situation is altogether more fluid these days, with the Proteas potentially poised to seize top spot if they beat current leaders India at home this season and also prosper in the lead-up to that series.
Nitin Sundar is a sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo