Should Kevin Pietersen be selected in the England squad for the World T20?
When it comes to the ICC major events, the England Cricket team hasn’t tasted much success. The inventors of cricket have won just one major trophy, the ICC World T20 in 2010 that was played in the Caribbean under the captaincy of Paul Collingwood.
The prime reason for England’s triumph was the heroics of Kevin Pietersen. He was awarded the player of the tournament for his brilliant 248 runs in 6 innings which included a vital 47 runs of 31 balls in the final against Australia. He ended up with an astonishing average of 62 with a strike rate of 137.77 in the tournament.
Pietersen wronged repeatedly?
He is arguably one of the best players to have played for England. But he has certainly not received the kind of respect he deserves from the English media as well as the selectors. Every time the English team suffered defeats, he was made the scapegoat. Many consider him belonging to South Africa, the main cause of all the criticisms he suffers.
Just when everyone thought that KP will break all the batting records for England, came the Ashes series 2013-14 down under. England suffered a massive defeat as the hosts crushed them in all the five tests.
Huge impacts were created by the fiery bouncers of Mitchell Johnson. Every English batsman merely surrendered to his pace. At the end of it all, somebody had to be handed the responsibility for the losses and yet again, it was KP who got the hammering.
But the reality is something else. KP was the leading run scorer in the series for England. He scored 294 runs at an average of 29.4. Sadly, though, he was dropped from the side even after performing way better than many others. His career suffered a major setback and the English selectors almost closed all the doors for his comeback.
KP has shown consistent form everywhere he has played
Since his exclusion from the side, KP has proved time and time again that he still deserves to be the leading batsman of England. He played in the various T20 leagues all over the world like IPL, BBL and CPL and shone in most of them. He kept batting well in the domestic leagues as well, but the selectors never turned towards him.
Before the Ashes 2015 that was to be played in England, KP was all set to play for the Delhi Daredevils in the IPL. But just then he was given a glimmer of hope that he could be considered for selection if he leaves IPL and plays the domestic cricket in England. Keeping his hopes, he flew back to England and started playing domestic county cricket.
Despite playing perhaps the best innings of 355* for Surrey, Andrew Strauss, the Director of England Cricket refused to pick him in the side for the Ashes summer. KP felt that he was hard done once again by the selectors and he expressed his disappointment with his former captain’s decision.
KP though continues to be active in cricket especially in the T20s. He recently played in the Caribbean Premier League for St Lucia Zouks. He scored 295 runs in 10 matches at an average of 32.77 with a highest score of 83*.
Now he is a part of the Big Bash League in Australia playing for the Melbourne Stars and has shown true brilliance. His innings of 76 runs of 42 balls including 6 colossal sixes reminded the fans that he is still one of the bests going around.
Does KP deserve a second chance?
Stats suggest that KP has been in tremendous form of late and there is absolutely no reason why he cannot be a part of a world-class team. His contribution for English cricket deserves much more appreciation than he has ever got.
With the World T20 around the corner, his selection in the squad can prove to be a huge boost to England as he has ample experience of playing in the Indian conditions being associated with the IPL for long.
Not many players from the current English T20 squad have played much cricket in India and KP can certainly add more value to the chances of England regaining the title. If he makes a comeback, the tournament will reach another level of excitement.