Kevin Pietersen: The prodigy of modern age batting
It was the 21st of July 2005. After a lot of deliberation, England decided to pick the little known Kevin Peter Pietersen, famous only for his fallout with the South African board. The decision was welcomed with both garlands and brickbats as England knew that a failure here could end careers. Ashes meant pride and honour. After all, that is what the Ashes is known for, among unsuccessful players who have fallen short of the dreaded line.
As he walked into the middle with England tottering at 3/18, he would have felt the pressure of playing for a side like England. Glenn McGrath was breathing fire and it was a matter of when if not how Pietersen would be dismissed. After all, McGrath was one closing in on a rare milestone for a bowler. Yes, the coveted five hundred mark was a stone’s throw away and the downfall seemed pretty evident.
Sledges flew in the air and Pietersen was taunted and tested with neat and tidy bowling. On one end, it was Brett Lee who ran in hard and troubled Pietersen with some spicy quicker ones that tangled with the rib cage while on the other; McGrath was creating enough doubts with his sharp out swinging deliveries.
Two more wickets fell as Pietersen barely managed to survive the oncoming tirade of the fast bowling duo even as England were looking at a humiliating defeat at the start of an important series. But England, having bowled out the mighty Australian batting for a meagre 190 runs were fancying their chances even after the loss of early wickets.
They had Pietersen and the gritty keeper Geraint Jones to salvage some pride by overtaking Australia’s below par total. One good partnership as the commentator kept saying, but it was easier said, than done.
That was the beginning. It was the start of a blazing career, one of a South African born ‘unorthodox’ batsman who seemed like he was not ready to relinquish a chance to prove his mettle. He was elegance personified, rather redefined I should say. As he took guard, it seemed that he was on the mould of Kallis who preferred shuffling across as the ball was being delivered. But the grace and fluidity he exhibited was a class apart from the rest.
He punished the bad deliveries. Period. This was neither Sachin Tendulkar nor Vivian Richards, but a man with a calculative mind and a steadfast attitude. When he pulled, he made sure that the ball was hit with complete power and precision and his drives were another story altogether.
He stepped out and negated the swing generated by McGrath which put him out of his line and length. Here was a batsman who could hurt and question the pride of fast bowlers. He was called a batsman in ‘the Tendulkar mould’ and rightly so.
As he powered his way to a debut half-century, hopes were restored and the barmy army were in full flow calling out to Pietersen, demanding more. He was starting become one of their own, if not already. He battled even after the departure of Jones, carrying the hopes of millions of fans even as wickets kept falling at the other end. Pietersen was suddenly left with no choice but to aim for some quick runs. He punished McGrath, Lee and clobbered Warne for a humongous six over midwicket.