Kevin Pietersen eyes Test return with South Africa in 2018

Former England batsman Kevin Pietersen still hasn’t given up hope of playing Test cricket again. He admitted that he’s eyeing a return to Test cricket with his country of birth South Africa.

The right-handed batsman played his last Test at Sydney in the 2013-14 Ashes series, where England was whitewashed by Australia. After that tour, he was never selected for another match despite continuously expressing his willingness to play.

The South Africa-born player has played 10 years of international cricket for England and will be eligible to for his native country in early 2018. This is something that the flamboyant cricketer is looking forward to.

When the veteran of 104 Test matches was asked about the prospect of returning to international cricket in the South African jersey he told Cricket Australia, “Yes, it is a thought in my head. If it happens, it happens, if it doesn’t, it doesn’t. Obviously, playing international is something I have done for a very long time.”

Pietersen admitted that he miss playing on the international stage a lot. He said, “Do I miss playing international cricket? Do I miss batting in international cricket? Yes, I do very much so you never know.”

Last year he skipped Indian Premier League (IPL) to win back his Test spot and turned down for Surrey in Division Two of the County Championship and scored a sublime triple-hundred against Leicestershire at The Oval.

Despite his good performances, the newly appointed England director of cricket Andrew Strauss indicated that he’s not considering Pietersen for a national recall. After that, his chances for a return to the Three Lions Test team looks very slim.

‘I still train hard and love batting’

The 35-year-old cricketer will be 37 in 2018 when he is eligible to play for South Africa. But the aggressive batsman certainly hasn’t given up hope of playing for either country. He said, “The eligibility for South Africa is still a year away. So we will have to wait and see but it is definitely still an option,”

Pietersen, who has scored more than 8000 Test runs says that he is in a great frame of mind and enjoying his life at the moment. He said, “I am in a great frame of mind now. I enjoy myself and don’t take life too seriously. I still train hard and love batting, I love practicing my batting, I love the art of batting. It may not guarantee me getting runs, but it gives me a good chance to get runs.”

“I am very lucky that I have played international cricket for 10 years and over 100 Test matches,” added Pietersen

He is currently playing in the IPL for his new franchise Rising Pune Supergiants (RPSG) under the leadership of MS Dhoni. He played an important knock of unbeaten 21 of 14 balls to help his team win the opening match of IPL 2016 against the defending champions Mumbai Indians (MI).