Kevin Pietersen's new legacy - Giving back to the underprivileged society
Kevin Pietersen is someone who is known to carry his old wounds around. Today, however, Pietersen has moved on. He has accepted the end of his international career and has made peace with this realization.
"If I didn't laugh, I'd cry," Pietersen told ESPNcricinfo. "I told Strauss all this about six years ago and I was portrayed as the bad guy."
Pietersen now pursues his hobbies and also devotes his time to things he wants to do to make a change in the world. He is able to spend time with his family. He also plays golf.
"I've been incredibly lucky to travel the world," he says. "Playing international sport has given me a privileged life. I've been to amazing places and had some incredible experiences.
“But the truth is, when you are focusing on your career in international sport, you have to be quite....selfish is right. You do have to be, if not selfish, then single-minded. That's maybe a better way to put it.”
He finally has the motivation to do something not for himself, but for other people in the world who are not quite as privileged.
"I always worked very hard. I always took my training seriously and was focused on being as good as I could be. You have to be to enjoy that level of success. It is a job, and to be good at your job you have to spend a lot of time on it. It means you probably don't give the time you should to other things.”
Pietersen admits that like all sportspeople who are at the peak of a sport, he was driven by ambition and a single-mindedness to score. These qualities are good for a player, but they don’t leave much scope for a person to grow and develop and empathize with the world around them - it narrows the scope of life.
"And while I always noticed the world around me - the net bowlers who would do anything for us but went home without shoes; the kids running along beside the team bus; the poor areas we drove through - it passed me by a little bit. I'm not proud of that, but it's true.
“And if I had allowed myself to think too much of that, I probably wouldn't have had the success I have had. I wouldn't have the profile I now have, which allows me to give something back.
"But it was all about me in the past. It was all about my ambitions. My runs. So to do something now that is all about helping people is incredibly satisfying," he said.
Pietersen is not the first one to give something back to the society after an illustrious international career. James Anderson has produced a documentary that is very touching and shows how cricket influenced life in Kenya while Graeme Swann made sure that a school would not lack any facilities that they may require.
"Look, I can't change the world. But if I can change the world of one or two kids? Well, that would be great", said Pietersen.
"This only started a year or so ago," Pietersen says. "For the first time, I had time to reflect. I had time to think about what I wanted to do next. And I came up with two clear goals.
"The first was to raise awareness of a rare form of cancer - ocular melanoma - that took my great friend, my other brother, really, Jon Cole-Edwardes, from us far, far too soon.
"And the other was to give something back. I wanted to repay all those people from all around the world who have always been so supportive. I wanted to use some of the good fortune I have had to help those who haven't had any fortune."
Pietersen says he would be delighted if this would be seen as his legacy.
"I would love this to be my legacy," he says. "Of course I'm incredibly proud of the runs I've scored and the success we've had, but improving the lives of these disadvantaged kids would be something else entirely. It will be about giving people some of the incredible opportunities I've had.
"I know some people will be surprised I'm doing this. But hopefully, I'll win some people over and other people will accept that I'm just trying to help. Why wouldn't I want to?”
He knows that his initiative will get the best reception if he is in the public view, still playing.
"I scored a triple-hundred last summer and the England selectors still ignored me," he says. "What's the point of me turning up at the start of April to be nicked off by some 60mph seamer?
"If I play for anyone, it will be Surrey. But I don't like the NatWest Blast as a competition, as playing once a week doesn't really work for my batting. Besides, my schedule is already very busy. I intend to play cricket for a few more years, but I don't know how much of it will be in England."
Pietersen is more relaxed and happy in life now. He has time to do all the things he loves, and he has distanced himself from the events that caused stress a couple years ago.
"I enjoy life more now," he says. "I see old friends and they say 'How much calmer are you now?' The stuff that happened a couple of years ago... it took a lot out of me.
"I'm cool with my life now. I like what we're trying to do. It excites more than anything I've ever done before. It seems more important. I want to help create a legacy beyond the world of cricket.
"And I don't have any stress now. I see my family. I play golf. And I can do things like this - the foundation - which is more important to me now. I feel I'm a happier person now. A better person."
Pietersen has started an admirable initiative, and we wish him all the best!