Kevin Pietersen

Some describe him as a traitor for abandoning his home country, South Africa to turn out playing for England in international cricket. Some call him the style icon for his fancy hairstyles and tattoos. Legends like Shane Warne refer to him as the ‘walking ego’ or for that matter, Australia’s former coach John Buchanan calls him a ‘poor starter’. All this describes England’s Kevin Pietersen, who despite all the negative perceptions is arguably one of the world’s best batsmen today and by far one of my favourite cricketers as well.

Pietersen rose to prominence early in his career when he made his ODI debut against South Africa in South Africa. I would rate his three centuries in seven matches of that tour as the finest I have ever seen. He was under pressure from partisan crowds and he had a tough job to revive England’s one-day fortunes as well. He couldn’t do the latter but he handled the pressure remarkably well. He studiously followed the advice of his first captain, Michael Vaughan that he only had to watch the ball and nothing else. And all the three centuries were attacking and almost made South Africa lose a one-day series at home. He made the world stand up and appreciate the fact that a star was born.

His exploits in South Africa made him a serious contender for a place in the starting XI of the Test team which would be playing against Australia for the Ashes in the summer of 2005 at home. Despite the fact that the XI was more or less set, yet Pietersen upstaged the veteran Graham Thorpe as Englands No. 5 for the first Test at Lords. And he didn’t waste this golden opportunity. England were 21/5 in the first innings when he walked out to bat. There was humungous pressure on him because all the big guns, Strauss, Trescothick, Vaughan, Bell and Flintoff had been foxed by some ferocious swing bowling by Glenn McGrath. Yet, he thrived under pressure as he played his counter-attacking game. He scored a half-century on debut, which even included sixes of the bowling of his Hampshire teammate, Shane Warne. His mature innings of 57 eventually made England reach 155 in response to Australia’s 190 in the first innings. He scored 64 in the second innings again amidst pressure because England had to chase 420 to win the Test. Though England lost eventually, Pietersen stood out and he created the momentum which the batting needed, in order to win the Ashes later on. But he wasn’t done for the series. He hammered 158 at The Oval in the final Test in the second innings to ensure that the match was drawn and England won 2-1, holding the Ashes for the first time since 1986.

His un-English attitude of tearing the opposition apart right from the first ball made him successful in the Test arena and to an extent ODIS as well. In his next Test series, he scored another century against Pakistan at Faisalabad when again the others failed miserably. However he was in fine nick the next home season where he scored back-to-back hundreds against Sri Lanka. Many still remember the reverse sweep, which could be now considered a switch-hit off the bowling of the wizard, Muttiah Muralitharan for a huge six. His Test career was going as smooth as a roller-coaster, however he did not have a memorable year in ODIs in 2006. He was getting the starts but he couldn’t convert those into big hundreds. It was only in the World Cup 2007 against Australia that he had scored the 4th hundred of his career. He looked confident because he had created the fear in the Australians after that 158 he scored at Adelaide during the Ashes in 2006. And soon, he also scored a match-winning hundred against hosts West Indies in a crucial Super 8 clash in Barbados to make sure England have a genuine chance to reach the semi-finals of the tournament.

Kevin Pietersen

Kevin Pietersen has been a revelation, right throughout his five years of international cricket. He has dominated every bowling attack possible, and has left no margin for error in helping England win not just at home, but also abroad. He is an equally good player in all three formats of the game.

However, the so-called ‘law of averages’ tends to catch up with many cricketers in some points of their careers. And Pietersen has suffered from this since the last ten months or so. Even the most ardent Pietersen fan is likely to believe that he is not at his best, at the moment despite a wonderful World Twenty20 in the West Indies. This is because of one particular reason – the emergence of left-arm spinners in world cricket.

Great batsmen like Sachin Tendulkar or Brian Lara have played so well right throughout their careers that there are no apparent weaknesses which can be spotted when they are batting. So, Pietersen cannot be in the list of greats yet, because he has this rather peculiar weakness of getting dismissed against the left-arm spinner.

Pietersen, no doubt is a fine-quality player of pace bowling when he can play any shot on both sides of the wicket. However, spin can make Pietersen look silly at times, just as how Sehwag often is tempted when spinners are bowling to him.

Pietersen emerged as one of England’s valuable players in 2005 in the one-day series in South Africa. The three hundreds which he had scored in seven matches, clearly showed how he can bat on hard, bouncy tracks. However, what many didn’t observe was that Pietersen struggled to play Nicky Boje in that series and got out to his bowling once.

So the problem remained but he was able to flourish thanks to no regular left-arm spinner in the Australian team in the 2005 Ashes. His blossoming was due to his innovation against spinners, which was risky but successful. He invented the switch-hit in 2006 off the bowling of Muttiah Muralitharan, when he hit a huge six at Leeds. He took on Pakistan’s slow bowlers well at home. For that matter, even in the 2007 World Cup, he played really well because of his aggressive attitude towards spin bowling.

However, captaincy was thrust on to him in 2008 and the threat of injury loomed large after playing three years of non-stop international cricket. This is when his agility also reduced to a certain extent. A lean run followed in 2009 as it was evident that the emergence of left-arm spinners had an effect on his batting.

In the tour of New Zealand and the return series in 2008, Daniel Vettori troubled Pietersen and curbed his scoring to a large extent, if not taking his wicket. Even in the IPL 2009 in South Africa, Kevin Pietersen was playing as captain of the Royal Challengers Bangalore in a match against Delhi Daredevils.

Vettori, playing for the Daredevils was bought on to bowl by captain Virender Sehwag when he was batting. Pietersen tried the switch-hit but was comprehensively bowled by Vettori. In the 2009 tour to South Africa, he returned to play for England after an Achilles injury.

In the ODIS there, unlike the last time when he burst into top-flight cricket with a brilliant performance, he failed miserably. And in Bangladesh in March 2010, the problem of left-arm spin had taken centre-stage. In the ODIS, Pietersen’s poor form had continued as Abdur Razzak, Bangladesh’s spinner picked up his wicket in 2 ODIS and the captain Shakib al Hasan picked him in the first ODI. It was a similar story in the Tests.

Shakib continued to dominate with the wicket of Pietersen, especially with the flighted delivery from around the wicket, which comes back to hit the middle stump. That ball has a lot of use as it can either get the batsman lbw or bowled or even catch out on the off-side or at short leg. And that is exactly what happened with Pietersen.

Despite having a healthy average of 40 in the Test series, Pietersen could have gone on to make more runs, if he hadn’t been dismissed by Shakib on those turning wickets in Bangladesh. And in the recent Test series against Bangladesh at home, he tried to break the shackles by playing at his aggressive best, but he didn’t get the better of Shakib once again.

This is a major worry for Strauss and co if England are aiming to be World No.1 in all three formats of the game in atleast the next 2 or 3 years. Perhaps, its time that Pietersen changes his approach towards batting altogether to become a much better player for England, who need some experience to rely on.

While Sri Lanka have had a long and hard tour of India, Bangladesh will be fresh after a two-month break. Still, Lanka would be expected to go into the game as favourites.

This, despite the fact that they have dropped some of their seniors. Sanath Jayasuriya, Muttiah Muralitharan and Ajantha Mendis all will be missing from the absence in the Bangladesh, so it remains to be seen how they perform in the trio’s absence. They certainly were below par in India recently.

Bangladesh, meanwhile, will be buoyed by their 2009 record even though they were against weaker teams. But they were impressive nonetheless. The Bangladeshis will also have fond memories of their battle against the Lankans last year.

They defeated Lanka in a match and had them in dire straits in the final before they managed to recover. They will also have the home advantage so Lanka definitely cannot take them lightly anymore. The only factor that might go against the home side might be the fact they haven’t had an international outing for a while. And the Lankans must try and take advantage of that.

Sri Lanka would be hoping for the top-order to continue the great work they did in India. Tillakaratne Dilshan will be their trump card once again. However, one cannot ignore his batting partner Upul Tharanga either. The southpaw really came of age in India and will like to carry on the good form.

Ditto with skipper Kumar Sangakkara, who played some blinders in India. Unfortunately, the trio’s hard work was undone by the middle-order. And thus a lot better will be expected from the likes of Thilan Samaraweera, Thilina Kandamby while Chamara Silva gets another opportunity to cement his place.

There have been some changes in the bowling department too. Spinning all-rounder Muthumudalige Pushpakumara and left-arm seamer Thilan Thushara will support Suraj Randiv and Chanaka Welagedera.

Bangladesh too have a good bunch of talent at their disposal. In the batting department, they no longer depend only on inconsistent Mohammad Ashraful. Tamim Iqbal, skipper Shakib Al Hasan and wicket-keeper Mushfiqur Rahim have all been making worthy contributions. That said, it will only help if Ashraful bats like an experienced hand.

Speaking of Bangladesh’s bowling, Rubel Hossain was undoubtedly one of the stars of the side last year and will be expected to continue the same in the New Year.

Among the others, spinner Abdur Razzak has been performing consistently for Bangladesh for a couple of seasons now, so they definitely don’t posses of the worst bowling attack in the world. Thus, one has got to believe that Lanka will be in for a tight contest despite being the pedigreed of the two sides.

While the Indian batting has been in awesome form, they still need to figure out a way to utilize the powerplays when Virender Sehwag falls early, like it happened in Nagpur. India clearly lost out on a few runs because of his dismissal, which made a huge difference in the end. And though Virat Kohli did a good job coming up the order, Sunil Gavaskar’s suggestion that MS Dhoni should come up at number three in such situations must be implemented. This is only in hindsight, but it’s a point to ponder upon that had Dhoni come in earlier India could have notched up a bigger total, which could have made a significant difference.

Sadly for the Indians, this strategy cannot be implemented in the next two games as the Indian captain has been banned for the team’s slow-over rate. It goes without saying that Dhoni’s services as batsman, keeper as well as skipper will be missed dearly. However, there is no point in losing sleep over it. The Indians must instead focus on how to get their act right at Cuttack. For a start, Dinesh Karthik is not a bad replacement for Dhoni as keeper batsman. He has been in such situations before and has more often than not done a commendable job. India would be hoping Karthik delivers in the next two games as well.

In Dhoni’s absence, Sehwag will take over the mantle of captaincy. India will be hoping that the additional pressure doesn’t affect his batsmanship. The one positive for India might be the inclusion of Yuvraj Singh, which should definitely shore up the batting order in Dhoni’s absence. However, they have bigger worries to sort out, none more than their bowling in the first half of their innings and their so oft mentioned atrocious fielding efforts. While Zaheer Khan’s lapses in the field weren’t entirely responsible for India’s loss at Nagpur, they were symptomatic of the team’s performance in the field, which has been ragged from the time Lanka arrived in India.

The visitors themselves have a few problems of their own. After Muttiah Muralitharan and Dilhara Fernando, their Man Friday Angelo Mathews will now miss the remainder of the series following the injury he picked up during his match-winning knock at Nagpur. Their middle-order too needs to bat with a lot more responsibility so that the efforts of the top three – Tharanga, Dilshan and Sangakkara – don’t go in vain. All in all, yet another closely fought contest in the offing.

The authorities concerned have got to make sure that barren lands stay away from the Test arena as much as possible if they want to protect the future of Test cricket. Such surfaces also dampen the enthusiasm of the bowlers, as even the best look insipid, which was evident in Muttiah Muralitharan’s (the highest wicket-taker in world cricket) extremely ordinary figures. How then can you expect the less talented ones to perform? As it is, the bowlers are suffering in the various abridged editions. And more shockers like Ahmedabad will only lead to deterioration in the standard of the bowling in international cricket, which is anyways at an all-time low.

Speaking of the match per se, it was undoubtedly dominated by Sri Lanka, with India having their sessions only on the first and final day. Batting wasn’t a tough task out in the middle so it is the bowlers who did well that deserve most of the credit. And the first name that instantly comes to mind is medium-pacer Chanaka Welegedara. Considering the fact that he was drafted in at the last minute following an injury to regular new ball bowler Thilan Thushara, Welegedara came up with an exceptional performance. It was his devastating spell on a moist pitch during the opening day that set the tone of the game for the Lankans. Getting Virender Sehwag, Gambhir and Sachin Tendulkar is no mean feat no matter whatever the conditions and no praise can be too hight for Welegedara for that effort. The most impressive aspect of his bowling was that all his dismissals were either bowled or lbw, proving he is a nagging, accurate pacer.

From India’s side, Zaheer Khan was not equally effective in comparison. But the fact that he bowled without pain and claimed a couple of wickets will definitely give him and the team a lot of confidence as they head into the next Test. The same though cannot be said about Ishant Sharma. Again, the pitch was a factor, but even otherwise he hasn’t looked at that penetrative best recently. Meanwhile, the spinners from both sides would like to forget the match and move on.

This was a batsman’s Test no doubt. Dravid, Dhoni, Dilshan, the Jayawardenes, Gambhir and Tendulkar, all helping themselves to centuries. But even they would like to face sterner challenges. After all, that is what Test cricket is all about.

Sri Lanka’s delayed declaration will be a subject of discussion. However, there will be criticism only if India manage to save the Test. There are two ways of outdoing the opposition while setting a target — bat them out of the game and then apply complete pressure by having umbrella fields or dangling the carrot and giving the team batting last a sniff that they can win. Kumar Sangakkara decided to opt for the former. His logic definitely would have been that with the pitch playing well the visitors could not afford to give India the slightest chance of going for victory. The fact that Lanka have never won a Test in India might also have influenced the think-thank, so the delay in the declaration was understandable.

In spite of the time lost, Lanka still have a strong chance of going for a historic win. No matter how good a pitch is, the last day will always have something to offer for the bowlers. The spinners Rangana Herath and Muttiah Muralitharan, in particular, could prove a handful on the final day. And impressive medium pacer Chanaka Welegedara wicket-taking ability can also unsettle the Indians, especially early on when he has been at his deadliest. So India have a real fight on hand to come out unscathed.

The host will be under immense pressure when they take the field on day five. However, they can learn plenty from the manner in which the two Jayawardenes – Mahela and Prasanna – applied themselves over such a long period of time during the Lankan innings. As mentioned earlier, there is nothing much in the pitch for the bowlers. Still, a lot of determination and mental application is needed for the amount of time the duo applied themselves. Their knocks were nearly flawless, and their class made good international bowlers from India look extremely ordinary. Both the spinners Harbhajan Singh and Amit Mishra were extremely insipid and Ishant Sharma did not do a lot to repay the faith the selectors have shown in him despite his disappointing efforts recently. Only Zaheer Khan made an impression, but without support even he was far from lethal expect for a few incisive spells.

A lot will now depend on how Gautam Gambhir and the remaining middle-order batsmen apply themselves. If India do manage to pull it off it will be a genuinely hard-fought effort.