Kevin Pietersen still unsure why he was sacked
Pietersen, England’s highest run-getter across all 3 formats, has not played a game for England since their 5-0 hammering at the hands of Australia in the Ashes earlier this year. Several explanations were given by the England and Wales Cricket Board related to his expulsion from the team, the centre of which being, the need to “support” captain Alastair Cook.
In an interview with Monday’s edition of the Daily Telegraph to promote his new autobiography slated to release on Thursday, the 34- year-old said he still has no idea as to why he was sacked.
“Why was I sacked? I'd love to know," he said.
Arrogant English cricketers
He also added that he was appalled at the way his former teammates Graeme Swann, Stuart Broad, James Anderson and currently injured wicket-keeper batsman Matt Prior, used foul language towards their own teammates for dropping catches.
"And (the bowlers) had the audacity to stand there and say: 'No, if they've fucked up we deserve an apology.' It's the most angry I ever got in that dressing room.
"I thought, 'I reckon I could hit these guys. Who do you think you are, to ask for an apology from someone who's trying his heart out? Are you perfect, are you never going to drop a catch? Are you never going to bowl a wide?'
Matt Prior was a problem
He also went on to say how Prior employed double standards and never spared the younger members of the team.
"But the double standard for me was the bigger thing. If one of them messed up, if Jimmy messed up, or Swanny, nothing was ever said. Prior left them alone. He never left alone (Nick) Compton or Ravi (Bopara) or Trotty (Jonathan Trott).
"I went after Prior and said Prior shouldn't be in that side because he's a bad influence, a negative influence, he picks on players. He's back-stabbing, he's horrendous, he's bad for the environment," the 34-year-old added.
The fallout with Andy Flower
Pietersen also denied that he was an awkward character and his biggest ‘offence’ was to stand up to former coach Andy Flower.
“I told him on numerous occasions: 'You're playing by fear here, you want guys to be scared of you. And Andy I'm not scared of you.' And he hated it," he said.
He also went on to add that the Zimbabwean had ignored the 34-year old when he told him about the stress-related condition,which led to the then No.3 Jonathan Trott’s shock departure from the touring party following the team’s heavy defeat in the first Test at Brisbane.
"The day we travel after Trotty goes home, Andy Flower comes to me and shakes my hand," said Pietersen.
"He says: 'Can I shake your hand please?' I was like, what? And he says: 'Can I shake your hand?' He says: 'I should have listened to you.' And just there and then I was like, 'uchh, go away'."
Pietersen also said that he regretted calling former England captain Andrew Strauss a "doos", insisting that it was a mild insult. He stated that he felt "broken" after discovering that, having scored a wonderful ton against the Proteas at Headingley, he was suspended.
He also found time to dismiss accusations of him being selfish.
"My job in that batting order was to take risks, calculated risks, dominate the test match so that we could be in a position where we could win the Test match.
"I did pretty well to score the number of runs I did at the average I did with so many man-of-the-matches, so I'm not having this where people say, you played for yourself, you're selfish,” he added.