Kevin Pietersen: Time to look beyond him for England?

Kevin Pietersen – No focus, no purpose

The return series of the 2013 Investec Ashes has, like the first leg, turned out to be a huge embarrassment for one side – and it wasn’t the one that was expected to roll over like a house of cards. Reams had been written on how the defending champions (for lack of a better term) would have the upper hand going into the second leg. However, things turned out quite differently.

England’s batting line-up raised a lot of eyebrows among experts, fans and former players alike. The inclusion of Michael Carberry, despite having struggled in the limited-overs format of the previous Ashes series, baffled me completely. I would have preferred Joe Root to pair with skipper Alastair Cook at the top of the order, since that combination is a better one.

Jonathan Trott’s sudden departure due to stress left a gaping hole in an already floundering side buffeted by Mitchell Johnson’s 150 km/hr scorchers, while Ian Bell has scarcely shown glimpses of the form he was in before touring Down Under. The less said about Cook and Prior, the better.

100 Tests and struggling

But there happens to be one particular individual who hasn’t even looked like himself of old. I would have said he is a far cry from his glorious days, but he is even paler than a pale shadow. There is a hint of grey in his otherwise jet-black locks, suggesting that perhaps Father Time is knocking on his doors, telling him to hang up his boots.

Kevin Peter Pietersen, England’s celebrity shot-maker, has been their biggest disappointment in recent times. A form slump is understandable, but making a consistent habit of it reflects poorly on the skills and the talent of a champion player. Flamboyance does not quite merit a place in Test cricket, even though it is needed at times, and only when it is absolutely necessary. Unfortunately, KP seems to be taking things easily, far too easily.

To put it simply, the South African-born maverick looks very bored with the proceedings. This may be in part due to the fact that he has been part of four Ashes triumphs, so he knows what to expect, perhaps even try to predict how to go about his business. But of late, he has been guilty of throwing away his wicket at the most inopportune of times. It’s almost as if he has forgotten the basic sense behind batting in Test matches – sell your wicket at a premium, and a very heavy price at that.

His shot selection and style of play have been even worse than amateurish. More often than not, KP has fallen to Victorian seamer Peter Siddle on this tour. The opposition knows he loves to play the flick on the leg-side, so keeping a short mid-wicket fielder in the line of the ball proved to be a master-stroke.

Now, if someone like Carberry or Joe Root had tried that sort of stunt, it would be put down to their relative inexperience at the highest level. But for a guy with 100 Test matches under his belt, who fell to the same ploy in the England leg of the Ashes at least twice, it is downright ridiculous. If a leg-stump guard is proving to be insufficient, why not modify your style a bit?

Siddle managed to get KP out with the angling-in delivery, forcing the stylish right-hander to fall into the ploy. But the former England captain still hasn’t found a way out of his dilemma. As a result, his shots have ended in his dismissals, and caused much more agony to his side.

The Sehwag syndrome

In some ways, Pietersen’s current travails mirror that of Virender Sehwag. Both are big-game players, and both are aggressive stroke-players who look to score their runs at a fast clip. Unfortunately, neither has shown enough patience nor chosen to bide their time against hostile bowling. They will simply play the way they want- teamwork be damned. The difference lies in their mental approach – Sehwag has realized his mistakes at times, KP doesn’t seem to want to realize that he has made insufferable blunders.

Perhaps it is time for the ECB and the England team management to look beyond the maverick batsman. But this will just have to be done after the Ashes. For dropping KP and a few others at this juncture will be foolhardy, and the last thing the side needs is a few more rookies who will be easy prey for the rampaging Australians.

If England wants to come back hard, then Andy Flower and batting coach Graham Gooch will have to talk tough with Pietersen – he is not indispensable, and may no longer become an automatic selection if he persists in his self-created delusions of grandeur.  They will have to help him overcome the mental block that has somehow crept into his game, and has plagued him every step of the way.

He needs to reflect. He could do with some time away from the game and the rigours of travelling. And he needs to find the old passion and hunger once again by reminding himself of who, why and what he is playing the game for.

Is it time to look beyond KP? Yes, but not right now – it has to be gradual. For the greater good, Kevin Pietersen must re-discover himself or risk being thrust into the eternal void from where there is no return.

I hope the KP of 2005 returns (peroxide streak and all) in the final two Test matches. Otherwise, it is game over.