Will Kevin Pietersen go down as England's greatest-ever batsman?

If you were to ask me to select the greatest player from each nation that plays football, I might take a couple of days to give you the exact list.

However, if you ask me the same question and replace football with cricket and also put batsmen ahead of player, the task may not be as difficult.

In India, I would name Sachin Tendulkar. In West Indies, Brian Lara and Viv Richards.

For England, it would be Kevin Pietersen.

There are a few reasons to pick him ahead of the likes of Geoffrey Boycott, Graham Gooch, and Alastair Cook.

Each of the aforementioned names is great in his own right, having tasted success all around the world and racked up extremely impressive numbers.

What, however, separates Pietersen from them is impact. The impact he had with the bat in hand and when the runs flowed off it, the demoralizing effect it created on the opposition.

In 104 Tests, he made 8181 runs at an average of 47.28. Often, one associates the word 'great' with players who have an average in excess of fifty, but with him, that criterion can be excused.

Simply because when he made big runs, England invariably won.

Recall the 186 against India on a bunsen burner at the Wankhede. The 227 against Australia at the Adelaide Oval. Performances that turned the match, the series, around for his side.

In winning causes, Pietersen's average went up to 58. Out of the 23 Test hundreds that he made, 11 led to a win, 11 to a draw and only one to a loss.

Only Cook has better numbers in winning causes among the players listed on top, with 16 hundreds coming in such a scenario.

Pietersen was only second to Cook when it came to winning matches with the bat

The key difference between Cook and Pietersen was that the latter would score runs that would alter matches; that would make the opposition look silly, their plans worthless.

His 158 against Australia at The Oval springs to mind immediately as a knock that took away the urn from the opposition. The pull shots off Brett Lee; slog-sweeps off Shane Warne.

Those present in London that day witnessed a special performance from a player the world was to hear a lot about in the years to come.

It was counter-attacking batting that could have only matched Ian Botham's innings at Headingley 24 summers earlier and it meant that England's wait to get their hands on the urn had finally ended.

Could Cook ever have played a knock like that? Could he have ever played an innings that altered the momentum in such a manner and made a country sit up and take notice?

The ODI career that never went fully blossomed

While his Test career was something that he can look back on with pride, Pietersen would certainly have hoped to have had a better ODI career, particularly after the kind of start he got off to.

In the end, 9 centuries in 136 matches was all it was over a span of nine years with sporadic efforts of brilliance sprinkled over a period of time.

In T20I cricket, however, England owe the right-hander a great deal. A key architect to their moment of glory in the West Indies in 2010, Pietersen can be proud of the fact that when England's moment did arrive to be on top of a podium at an ICC event, he was there to play a big role in helping them achieve that.

Did he deserve a grand farewell?

When careers come to a close, one of the questions that is asked is how did players who did a great service leave the game.

Tendulkar had an unforgettable farewell, arguably the most emotional send-off the game has seen. Ricky Ponting did not have the best of departures, as South Africa got the better of Australia in his last Test match at Perth.

With Pietersen, it can be said with assurance that his departure was forgettable, as he saw an England in tatters thanks to the destruction created by Mitchell Johnson on that wretched Australian summer of 2014.

Pietersen never played for England post the New Year's Test of 2014 and it really is a pity that one of the game's great entertainers, a player with the ability to tear any attack apart on his day, had to be thrown out of the side, rather than being handed a deserved send-off.

Maybe, his second innings in life has better things in-store for him. All the best, KP.