So long Kevin Pietersen! Thanks for the memories

There are good decisions and there are bad decisions. They all come with their own consequences. And then there are outrageous decisions. No matter what the intention behind them is, from the very inception it is clear that the situation is headed towards doom.

The English and Wales Cricket Board’s decision to sack Kevin Pietersen certainly fits in the third category. There has been a change of regime in the ECB setup – a new managing director in Paul Downton, a new chief selector in James Whitaker and a soon-to-be-appointed new team director – and they had to be seen as taking drastic measures in the aftermath of the Ashes whitewash.

Alas, in a bid to look decisive, the ECB has gone too far for its own good as it has effectively ended the international career of one of the most charismatic English cricketers ever.

Kevin Pietersen’s knock at Oval was the final nail in the coffin for Australia in 2005 Ashes

The Oval, 2005. Skunk hair, tattooed arms, loud mouth and the unmistakable swagger in the walk. Kevin Pietersen was anything but your everyday English cricketer churned out of the county system. His decision to leave the South African set-up in search of more opportunities had paid off and now he was a Test cricketer. But he had to do something to gain the love and respect of the English supporters, to be seen as one of their own. And there was no better stage to showcase his talent than the deciding Test of an Ashes series.

One of the greatest Test series hung in the balance. It was last the last day of the Ashes series and for once in about a million years England were ahead. Ricky Ponting‘s champion team, though, were not going down without one final fight. They needed to win the match to level the series and regain the urn. England needed to hang on to a draw to take the series. But against a fiercely determined Aussie attack the English batting started to crumble.

When Pietersen strode in England had a slender lead with plenty of time left. Draws are often achieved by tireless, long hours of dour batting, but the flamboyant Pietersen decided to counter-attack, taking on the might of the number 1 team.

Dropped early in his innings, Pietersen seemed unperturbed by the occasion and continued to bat in an aggressive manner. It was a welcome relief to see an English batsman play on instincts and display a rare streak of bravado. He drove Glenn McGrath with unearthly confidence. He hooked thunderbolts from Brett Lee authoritatively. He slog swept Shane Warne with disdain. The legends of the game were being manhandled by the new brash kid.

In company of the lower order he steered his side to safety with the confidence and competence of a veteran. The range of strokes he displayed en-route his maiden Test century left onlookers awe-struck.

By the time he was finally dismissed for 158, the results of the match and the series were a foregone conclusion.

Thousands of English fans woke up from their slumber to a long awaited Ashes win and the arrival of a new champion.

The irony here is that in the 0-5 loss, Pietersen emerged as the top scorer from the English camp. Although a tally of just 294 runs at a partly average of 29.4 leaves a lot to be desired, and admittedly there were some outrageous dismissals for which he was rightly chastised throughout the series, too often he was left to wage a lone battle in the middle in the company of the tail.

While most English batsmen looked clueless and out of their depths in the face of the sustained pressure created by the Aussie attack, Pietersen, along with Ben Stokes, had passages of play in which he looked in some degree of control. He is the by far best batsman in England right now, and rebuilding the side without him defies logic.

Moreover, the departure of Pietersen will leave a 13,797 international run – the most by an England player – sized hole. Ideally, a team that recently lost senior members like Jonathan Trott and Graeme Swann should actually be trying to utilize every bit of experience available to it.

England batsman Kevin Pietersen celebrat

An exhilarating double century from KP at Adelaide

Adelaide, 2010. The English side were more than just participants in the Ashes now, but on Australian soil they were yet to stamp their authority. After the extraordinary highs of 2005, England had to endure the morale-sapping 5-0 whitewash in the following Ashes in Australia.

Kevin Pietersen was the team’s number one batsman but he came into the series on the back of a lean patch and it had been nearly two years since his last century against the West Indies in Trinidad. Stories of Pietersen’s supposed vulnerability against left-arm spinners was the talk of the town and it wasn’t a coincidence that in the search of the next Shane Warne, Australia had zeroed in on Xavier Doherty, a left-arm spinner. After all, even part timer Yuvraj Singh, among others, claimed to have Pietersen’s number.

There were bitter-sweet memories of the last tour to overcome as well. In the previous tour in Adelaide England had raked up a massive 551/6 in the first innings with Pietersen contributing a stroke-filled 158, only to see Australia make a massive comeback and script a scarcely believable win.

Here again England started brilliantly, on the back of a superb spell from James Anderson, to restrict Australia to just 245; the stage was set to bat the Aussies out of the game. Pietersen, in company of Alastair Cook ensured that this time there were no half measures.

While Cook was in his usual run accumulating mode Pietersen chose the highway. Batting with freedom, he charged at the fast bowlers and tonked the spinners with ridiculous ease, making a good bowling attack look pedestrian. Comeback hundreds are always special and Pietersen’s relief at getting to a hundred was evident when he let out a loud cry and celebrated his triple figure score animatedly.

As the innings progressed he upped the ante and raced to his second double century, and made sure that the Aussies were dealt a strong psychological blow.

Though Doherty did manage to get him out, he was singled out for special treatment and ended up with figures of 1/158.

As Alastair Cook reached mythical proportions, England built on the win in Adelaide to take the series 3-1, thus registering their first series win in Australia in over two decades.

A new territory was conquered and England’s march to the top spot in Test rankings had begun.

What’s worse is the hush-hush manner in which ECB is handling the whole issue. As clarifications there have been just a timid and evasive official statement by the ECB that merely labelled the decision ‘unanimous’ and an interview of the new selector that bordered on embarrassing. The lack of transparency and the reluctance to divulge facts have only fuelled rumours.

Now there are whispers of a supposed showdown with Alastair Cook during the Sydney Test that might have been the final nail in the coffin; some reports suggest that Pietersen’s snide remarks and harsh criticism of Flower’s coaching style in a team meeting showcased him as a divisive agent in the team. Vice captain Matt Prior’s involvement in the whole issue was also put under the scanner which led to a very public spat on Twitter. The series of accusations and counter accusations have further deteriorated the situation.

Sri Lanka v England: 2nd Test - Day Three

A whirlwind century at Colombo

Colombo, 2012. In the previous Test at Galle, the world number one Test team had slumped to its 4th straight defeat. England were caught in a spin tangle. After being done in by the guile and variations of Saeed Ajmal and Abdur Rehman during the 3-0 whitewash in the UAE, the English batsmen had struggled against the accuracy and consistency of Rangana Herath and Suraj Randiv.

More than anything else it was a mental block against the slow, turning ball. An out-of-the-box approach was needed to break the spin hoodoo. Enter Kevin Pietersen.

On a hot and humid day, on a slow P Sara Oval pitch where batsmen struggled to get their timing right, Pietersen made batting look incredibly easy to bring up his 20th century. Along with his trademark aggression, his sense of improvisation was also brought to the fore as he unleashed the controversial switch hit to great effect. The unconventional methods of Pietersen put off the Lankan spinners to such an extent that the Sri Lankan skipper had to request the umpires to intervene and prevent Pietersen from playing the shot.

By the time his knock of 151 off just 168 deliveries got over, Pietersen had ensured a big first innings lead and shown his mates how to conquer the turning ball.

Apparently, the working relation between Andy Flower and Pietersen had reached an impasse. It had effectively come down to an ‘either him or me’ situation. With Flower stepping down from his role of team director it seemed that the management has sided with the maverick batsman. There was also a sense of deja vu as in 2009 Pietersen, then skipper of the national side, had a fallout with the coach Peter Moores which ultimately led to Moores’ ouster.

During the Australian tour the skipper Alastair Cook and Ashley Giles, the limited overs coach and Flower’s most likely successor praised Pietersen’s commitment to the team, with the latter even terming the South African-born a ‘million dollar asset’.

His sacking soon after such kind of comments not only betrays a lack of cohesion and understanding among the people who are at the helm of affairs but also sends a wrong signal to other team members.

The ECB has decided to stick by the captain and after the disastrous Ashes campaign their priority is to rebuild the team, but now it will be difficult for Cook to gain the trust of the youngsters. It won’t sit well with the likes of Joe Root, Ben Stokes and Gary Ballance that irrespective of their performance on the field, they will be judged by how good their equation with the team management is.

The utter disdain with which Kevin Pietersen faced Dale Steyn and co. made for breathless viewing

Headingley, 2012. England’s number one ranking in Tests was under threat. A well-rounded South African side was breathing down their neck, having already registered a comprehensive victory in the first Test at The Oval.

For Kevin Pietersen, there was more to the equation. It had been seven years since his debut and now his commitment to the team’s cause was under suspicion. His work ethic was questioned. His loyalty to his captain was under a cloud. The dressing room was a hostile place for him. He would rather be in the middle than in the confinement of the dressing room.

Well, things weren’t too friendly on the pitch either. In the middle, he was up against the best fast bowling line up in recent times. Dale Steyn, Vernon Philander, Morne Morkel and Jaques Kallis – the ensemble was as good as it gets. But Pietersen took the attack by the scruff of its neck and made his most flamboyant and majestic hundred at home.

While his teammates scratched around on a pitch that was two-paced, Pietersen seemed oblivious to the nature of the pitch. In all probability he was oblivious to his teammates as well. It was all about him against the Proteas attack. Batting with tremendous conviction and loads of self belief, he tore into the best attack in the world and smashed them around the historic ground, including a stunning straight six over the head of Steyn. The knock of 149, as much as it was against South Africa, was also intended to prove a point to his own team.

After the game Pietersen gained lots of media attention, which one would think was natural following such a majestic innings. Except that issues far removed from his batting made headlines, and he was dropped for the next Test.

It is no secret that Pietersen is not an easy man to manage. He is often perceived as arrogant and self-obsessed who puts his own agenda much ahead of the team’s cause. He was the rock-star in the team of commoners. But there was nothing that couldn’t have been managed – that’s what the team management is there for.

Instead of taking the easy way out of sacking him, efforts should have been made to find a middle path. Pander to his ego if need be. Despite all the troubles he might be creating, Pietersen’s amazing match winning ability tilts the cost-benefit analysis in his favour. It is even more peculiar that a management issue occurred in the English set-up, which employs an army of support staff.

While Cook’s captaincy, by general consensus, is considered quite bland and lacks imagination, his man-management skills have been frequently acclaimed, especially after his role in getting Pietersen back into the squad in 2012. But his subsequent sacking just 15 months after the much hyped ‘reintegration’ is bound to raise uncomfortable questions about Cook’s leadership abilities.

The ‘reintegration was complete’ at Mumbai

Mumbai, 2012. Kevin Pietersen nearly didn’t play the series. It needed an intervention from the newly appointed skipper Alastair Cook to get him back in the fold. It seemed a compromise then but soon proved to be a master-stroke.

After a thumping 9 wicket victory in the first Test in Ahmedabad, India looked set to grind England into the dust, quite literally. Even the toss went India’s way and by the time the second innings of the match got underway the visitors were up against it – a score in excess of 300 and three spinners to contend with on the brown Wankhede strip. To say that the wicket was a turner would be an understatement.

When Pietersen came to the crease the Indians were on top courtesy two quick wickets. The ball was misbehaving in every possible manner. But England’s number 4 displayed a knock of unmatched quality to defy the treacherous wicket. He defended with surety and attacked with intent to script a masterpiece of rare magnificence. The confidence with which he danced down the wicket against the spinners and hit them over the infield was beyond belief. With able support from Cook, who made a superb hundred himself, Pietersen’s 186 took the game away from the Indians and proved to be the cornerstone of one of England’s greatest achievements in Test cricket in recent times.

Just to put things in perspective, the combined tally of all English batsmen apart from Pietersen and Cook was a mere 89 and the Indians, master players of spin themselves, were bundled out for just 142 in their second dig. At the press conference in the same evening he said he was happy with his performance but above all he would love to see his team win the Test because of his effort.

The ‘reintegration’ was well and truly complete.

It will be a bizarre situation for the 33-year-old Pietersen as, though unwanted by the ECB, he will be a hot commodity in several twenty20 leagues around the world. He will continue to entertain cricket lovers around the world with his breathtaking strokeplay and surreal abilities.

But as things stand today, we may have seen the last of Pietersen on the grand stage of Test cricket. Despite the million bucks he is going to make with his franchise teams, he will be hurt at the prospect of not representing his country ever again.

All said and done, you have to hand it to him. It really is hard being Kevin Pietersen.