Pietersen’s Dream XI:

Kevin Peter Pietersen is an former English right handed batsman and occasional off spin bowler who currently plays for Surrey, as well as Melbourne Stars in the Big Bash League and Quetta Gladiators in the Pakistan Super League . He has also been signed by the Rising Pune Super giants for the 2016 season of the Indian Premier League (IPL). Pietersen selects the best eleven players he has played with during his illustrious career. The list in total has four Australian and two Indian, two England while a lone spot for , Pakistan, South African, and Srilankan and players. 

Kevin Pietersen names his Dream Cricket XI

South Africa-born English cricketer Kevin Pietersen has named his dream Cricket XI, The Telegraph reports. The team named not specifically for any format features legends like Sachin Tendulkar, Shane Warne, Kumar Sangakkara and Jacques Kallis, who Pietersen hailed as the greatest player to have ever played the game.

Pietersen’s former Hampshire teammate Warne has been naming his Best XI players from each Test playing nation over the past few weeks and the maverick English batsman seems to have taken inspiration from Warne and having been named in the England Test XI by the leg-spin wizard, Pietersen didn’t forget to return the favour by naming the Australian legend as the captain of his World XI.

Being a swashbuckling batsman himself, it was no surprise to see Pietersen name Virender Sehwag, who announced his retirement from international cricket and the IPL on Wednesday, remarking that he could win a Test match within one or two sessions, as the opening partner of the Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar.

Talking about Tendulkar, Pietersen said:  “A genius and superstar. Like the best in any sport, he seemed to have a lot more time to do his thing than everyone else.” 

Coming in at No 3, to the disappointment of quite a few cricket fans who wanted to see Rahul Dravid  was former Australian skipper Ricky Ponting who the Englishman described as the best batsman of his generation. Unsurprisingly, Kumar Sangakkara was chosen to bolster the middle order. 

The all-rounders in the side were countrymen Andrew Flintoff and South African Kallis who received the greatest praise from Pietersen being hailed as the greatest cricketer ever. The Australians continued to dominate further with Adam Gilchrist and Glenn McGrath also featuring along with Warne. 

Leaving behind his animosity, Pietersen named James Anderson in his side as well. The inclusion of Shoaib Akhtar, however, drew huge surprise especially with the speedster’s much more acclaimed fast bowlers like Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis not picked. 

Kevin Pietersen’s Dream Cricket XI:

1. Sachin Tendulkar (Ind)

2. Virender Sehwag (Ind)

3. Ricky Ponting (Aus)

4. Jacques Kallis (SA)

5. Kumar Sangakkara (SL)

6. Andrew Flintoff (Eng)

7. Adam Gilchrist (Aus) -WK

8. Shane Warne (Aus) (C)

9. James Anderson (Eng)

10. Glenn McGrath (Aus)

11. Shoaib Akhtar (Pak)

The nominees

Openers
Jack Hobbs, Len Hutton, Herbert Sutcliffe, Mike Brearley, Geoff Boycott, Graham Gooch, Mike Atherton, Michael Vaughan

Middle order
Wally Hammond, Ken Barrington, Kevin Pietersen, Colin Cowdrey, Peter May, David Gower, Stanley Jackson, Frank Woolley, Ted Dexter, Denis Compton

Allrounders
Ian Botham, Tony Greig, Andrew Flintoff

Wicketkeepers
Alan Knott, Bob Taylor, Les Ames, Jack Russell, Alec Stewart

Fast bowlers
Sydney Barnes, Harold Larwood, Fred Trueman, Bob Willis, Alec Bedser, Frank Tyson, John Snow, Darren Gough, Brian Statham

Spinners
Hedley Verity, Wilfred Rhodes, Jim Laker, Derek Underwood

Kevin Pietersen

Full name: Kevin Peter Pietersen

Born: June 27, 1980, Pietermaritzburg, Natal

Major teams: England, Deccan Chargers, Delhi Daredevils, Dolphins, Hampshire, ICC World XI, KwaZulu-Natal, Melbourne Stars, Natal, Nottinghamshire, Quetta Gladiators, Rising Pune Supergiants, Royal Challengers Bangalore, St Lucia Zouks, Sunrisers Hyderabad, Surrey

Nickname: KP, Kelves, Kapes, Kev

Playing role: Top-order batsman

Batting style: Right-hand bat

Bowling style: Right-arm offbreak

Height: 6 ft 4 in

Education: Maritzburg College, University of SA

Kevin Peter Pietersen is an English professional cricketer. He is a right-handed batsman and occasional off spin bowler who currently plays for Surrey, as well as Melbourne Stars in the Big Bash League and Quetta Gladiators in the Pakistan Super League . He has also been signed by the Rising Pune Supergiants for the 2016 season of the Indian Premier League.

Pietersen was born to an Afrikaner father and English mother in Pietermaritzburg, Natal Province, South Africa. He made his first class debut for Natal in 1997 before moving to England in 2000, after voicing his displeasure at the racial quota system in South African cricket. Being of English ancestry, Pietersen was eligible for the England team so long as he first served a four-year qualifying period in English county cricket. He was called up by England almost immediately after he completed four years with Nottinghamshire. He made his international debut in the One Day International (ODI) match against Zimbabwein 2004 and his Test match debut in the 2005 Ashes series against Australia. Pietersen left Nottinghamshire for Hampshire in 2005, but the England team's subsequent reliance on him resulted in Pietersen's making only a single first-class appearance for his new county between 2005 and 2010. In June 2010, Pietersen announced his wish to leave Hampshire; he joined Surrey on loan for the remainder of the season, then moved permanently in 2011.

Pietersen became the fastest batsman to reach both 1,000 and 2,000 runs in One Day International cricket. He has the second-highest run total from his first 25 Tests, behind only Sir Don Bradman of Australia, and was the fastest player, in terms of days, to reach 4,000, 5,000 and 7,000 Test runs. He became only the third English batsman to top the ICC One Day International rankings, doing so in March 2007. In July 2008, after a century against South Africa, The Times called him "the most complete batsman in cricket" and in 2012 The Guardian called him "England's greatest modern batsman".

International career

Pietersen is eligible to play for England as he has an English mother. After a qualifying period of four years playing at English county level, he was called up almost immediately for his international debut against Zimbabwe in 2004.

The tour of Zimbabwe caused several players to voice their concerns about the Robert Mugabe regime, the security issues in the country and the standard of the Zimbabwean side. Steve Harmison was the first to boycott the tour for "political and sporting reasons", and all-rounder Andrew Flintoff was reported to be considering taking a moral stand himself. The England Chairman of Selectors David Graveneydenied that the selectors would leave out players unhappy with touring Zimbabwe and would put their absences down to injury. Flintoff was, however, "rested" and Pietersen rushed into the squad "at the earliest opportunity". In the five match ODI series, Pietersen batted in three innings which included a score of 77 not out; he finished the series with an average of 104.00 as England won the series 4–0.

Success in South Africa

Pietersen was upset not to be initially in the squad to tour South Africa. With Flintoff withdrawing due to injury, Pietersen was recalled to the squad, and cemented his place in the first team with 97 off 84 balls in the warm-up match against South Africa A, in the face of a hostile crowd. Throughout the tour, Pietersen was subjected to a barrage of abuse from the South African crowd, who regarded him somewhat like a traitor. He said: I knew I was going to cop a lot of stick but it will be like water off a duck's back...I expected stick at the start of the innings, and I'm sure it will carry on through the whole series. But I just sat back and laughed at the opposition, with their swearing and 'traitor' remarks... some of them can hardly speak English. My affiliation is with England. In fact, I'm starting to speak too much like Darren Gough... In fact, I'm going to get one of Gough's tattoos with three lions and my number underneath...No one can say I'm not English.

Despite press speculation, Pietersen was not picked for the Tests against Bangladesh—his early season form being dogged by a foot injury—but with his county form improving, he was selected for the Twenty20 match against Australia at Southampton, making 34 from 18 balls and taking three catches as England won by 100 runs being awarded man of the match in the process.

In the triangular ODI series against Australia and Bangladesh, Pietersen did not get to bat in the first match at The Oval as England won by 10 wickets, but scored 91 off 65 balls in the match in Bristol against Australia. In the remainder of the triangular series, Pietersen scored quickly, although without other half-centuries. In the final of the Nat West Series, he only made 6 as he finished the seven-match series with a total of 278 runs at an average of 46.33. Pietersen's performances sparked speculation over whether he would be brought into the Test side for The Ashes later in the summer. Later in July, Pietersen played in all three matches of the (ODI) NatWest Challenge against Australia. In the final match he was the top scorer for England with 74 runs; however, he was forced off the field in the third over of Australia's reply with a groin injury.

2005 Ashes triumph

Speculation over when Pietersen would play for the Test team was ended in July with the announcement by the England chairman of selectors, David Graveney, that Pietersen had been selected ahead of Thorpe. He made his debut in the first Ashes Test at Lord's, becoming the 626th player to play for the national side. He came into bat at 18–3 and he made 57 on debut in his first innings. In the second innings, he similarly came in after a batting collapse and finished making a second half-century and finished the innings on 64 not out, becoming only the fourth player to top score in both innings on debut for England, the eighth England player to score a half-century in each innings on his debut, and the third cricketer to do so at Lord's. England were thrashed by 239 runs before moving onto Edgbaston where he came in a more comfortable position scoring 71 in the first innings. He had a good partnership with Andrew Flintoff where the pair put on 103 very quickly. He made 20 in the second innings coming in at 31–4. He was involved in two controversial decisions. He gloved his first ball from Brett Lee, but the umpire turned down the appeal. Later,Shane Warne bowled a ball which hit his pad then elbow before being caught by Adam Gilchrist, and he was given out. The match ended with England narrowly winning by 2 runs.

In the drawn third Test, Pietersen had his first quiet match when he scored 21 in the first innings, getting caught on the boundary. Then, with England looking to push on he was unfortunately dismissed lbw to Glenn McGrath for a golden duck. In the fourth test win at his former home groundTrent Bridge, he scored 45 in the first innings after facing 108 balls looking to build a big score. In the second innings chasing 129 to win, he was in at 57–4 when he scored 23 in a decent partnership again with Flintoff. He was dismissed when he was caught behind wafting at a ball outside off stump. However, England won and went 2–1 up. Under pressure to post a large score in the final Test at The Oval, Pietersen did not contribute significantly in the first innings with 14 as he was bowled for the first time in his Test career by Shane Warne. In the second innings, Pietersen was dropped on 0 by a combination of Gilchrist and Hayden, on 15 by his Hampshire colleague Shane Warne and after reaching fifty on 60 by Shaun Tait. He reached his maiden test century with a driven four off the bowling of Tait before making 158, eventually being dismissed by Glenn McGrath. This innings helped to secure the return of the Ashes to England for the first time since the late 1980s. His innings included seven sixes, breaking Ian Botham's record for the most sixes by an English player in an Ashes innings. Pietersen was named Man of the Match for his efforts, and finished the series as top scorer, with 473 runs over the five Tests, an average of 52.55 which also was the highest in the series. However, he had a less successful series in the field, dropping six catches in the five Tests, a point he made wryly when questioned about the Australians dropping him three times on the final day. Pietersen was given an ECB central contract to reflect his place in the national side.

Awards

Pietersen gained several awards for his performances in the 2005 season. He was named both the ICC "ODI Player of the Year" and "Emerging Player of the Year" in 2005, and was one of the five Wisden Cricketers of the Year (alongside team mates Simon Jones andMatthew Hoggard) for his role in the successful Ashes series against Australia. Along with the rest of the England team, he was decorated in the 2006 New Year Honours list, being awarded the MBE for his role in the successful Ashes series. He also played for the ICC World XI in the 2005 ICC Super Series against Australia.

Test match performance

Records

·         Second-highest run-total from his first 25 Tests (behind Sir Don Bradman).

·         Fourth Englishman to make the top score in both innings of debut Test.

·         One of only twenty-five players to have a peak ICC batting rating over 900.

·         Achieved 5,000 test runs in the fastest time, reaching this feat in 4 years and 243 days.

Profile

Few cricketers have divided opinion like Kevin Pietersen. When he was unceremoniously dumped from England's set up early in 2014, with lawyers at the ready on all sides, he was presented by those in authority as an egotistical individualist whose reluctance to respect those in charge forever undermined attempts to build a strong team ethic. Whatever view you held, Pietersen deserved to be recognised as one of the most captivating cricketers to pull on an England shirt. His flamboyant strokeplay was at the heart of many of England's finest performances for a decade. A brazen belief in his own ability, moments of outrageous unorthodoxy and, at times, a surprising vulnerability on and off the field have all combined to give him great box-office appeal.

For many England cricket fans, no name sparks more excitement. But his celebrity status, individualistic streak and outspoken ways often grated with the England cricket authorities who prefer their star names to be more malleable and conservative. The English media, which has at times been vitriolic - not to say personal - about his rebellious streak has generally recognised that he has few peers.

An attempt to introduce him into the inner sanctum, by appointing him England captain in August 2008, lasted only five months as his relationship with the coach, Peter Moores, was uncomfortable from the outset. Their differences simmered throughout a troubled tour of India and when the rift became public Pietersen was forced to resign early in the New Year with a disenchanted Moores sacked on the same day.

Another dispute arose in May 2012 when Pietersen, agitating for the freedom to play for longer in the Indian Premier League - where his popularity was unquestioned - briefly announced his retirement from all forms of limited-overs international cricket. Pietersen's frustration had a disruptive effect on England's summer Test series against South Africa. The ECB regarded the matter as an unacceptable display of player power. He was dropped for the final Test at The Oval and omitted from World Twenty20 in Sri Lanka, England predictable struggling in his absence.

Pietersen was born in Pietermaritzburg to an Afrikaner father, Jannie, and an English mother, Penny, and abandoned South Africa cricket as a teenager in protest against the racial quota system which he felt was unfairly restricting his opportunities at KwaZulu Natal. He joined Nottinghamshire in 2000, attracted by the chance to work with Clive Rice, the county's coach and a former South Africa allrounder, but left at the end of the 2003 season after Nottinghamshire were relegated, unhappy with the standard of the Trent Bridge pitches and expressed his feelings strongly enough for the captain, Jason Gallian, to fling his kit out of the dressing room window. He signed for Hampshire, where he remained until 2010, at which point he decamped to Surrey to be close to his Chelsea home, but by then his county appearances had long become sporadic.

His England career began in a low-key one-day series in Zimbabwe in 2004 when Andrew Flintoff was "rested" after expressing moral misgivings about the political regime of Robert Mugabe. Pietersen averaged 104 in England's 4-0 victory. A subsequent tour of South Africa was more daunting, but he produced three audacious centuries in the series, his unbeaten 100 in 69 balls becoming England's quickest ODI hundred. He went on to reach 1000 one-day runs in just 21 innings - equalling Viv Richards' record.

Test cricket beckoned with the 2005 Ashes the following summer: Pietersen's selection ahead of Graham Thorpe representing the toughest selectorial decision of early summer. He sealed the return of the urn after 17 years with a stroke-filled 158 at The Oval on the final day of the series. England needed to avoid defeat to regain the Ashes and Pietersen was dropped three times on the way to 60, but tension gave way to scenes of jubilation as his adrenalin-charged climax included seven sixes, breaking Ian Botham's record for England in an Ashes Test. He was named man of the match, finished an uneven series as top scorer, with 473 runs at 52.55 and, like the rest of the side, was awarded an MBE amid an atmosphere of national jubilation. He was also named as one of Wisden's Five Cricketers of the Year.

Soon it was time for his ill-fated tilt at the England captaincy. His tenure officially began when Michael Vaughan, the Test captain, retired and Paul Collingwood stood down as ODI captain at the same time. Pietersen started with a century and victory against South Africa at The Oval but that was perhaps as close as he ever got to acceptance from the establishment. England's ODI series against India ended prematurely because of terrorist attacks on Mumbai, but England returned to fulfil the Test tour amid unprecedented security as Pietersen expressed the need not to be cowed by terrorism. But behind the scenes Pietersen's relationship was deteriorating with Moores, a coach with no international experience and an unrelenting work ethic. Pietersen recommended, rather too publicly, that Moores be removed and got his way, only to be summarily sacked as well. His relationship with the ECB never entirely recovered. Andrew Strauss and Andy Flower, who took over as captain and coach, had much healing to undertake.

Alongside brushes with management - a feature in all the teams he has played for - injuries have interrupted him at key moments. His 2009 Ashes campaign was cut short by leg trouble that needed surgery and he left the 2011 World Cup with a hernia. His form became mercurial rather than reliable and he seemed to develop a curious fallibility against a succession of left-arm spinners, some more renowned than others. But he ended a 20-month wait for an international century by making a career-best 227 as England won the Ashes in Australia for the first time in 24 years, then scored 533 runs at 106.60 in England's 4-0 home whitewashing of India that secured them the No.1 ranking in Tests. His reputation as one of England's greats could no longer be denied.

He was also the Man of the Tournament in England's World Twenty20 win in 2010 but his one-day batting tailed off, with no centuries over a three-year period between 2009 and 2011. He scored two in successive innings against Pakistan in 2012 - including his highest ODI score of 130 - and, briefly, it appeared they would be his last innings in coloured kit for England when he announced his retirement from limited-overs internationals, briefly seduced by the attractions of IPL.

England's Test against South Africa at Headingley in 2012 captured his career in microcosm. His power struggle with the ECB had left him moody and unpredictable before the Test, but when the match began he struck a quite brilliant 149 and, in the process, became the fastest man in terms of time, to reach 7,000 Test runs. That was quickly followed by more off-field drama, as reports of derogatory text messages about his captain, Strauss, to South Africa players, filled the media. Pietersen was dropped for the next Test at Lord's and, even though he did an about turn and reconfirmed his desire to play for England in all formats, forgiveness did not come quickly enough for him to play in World Twenty20. When he was officially invited back into the ranks, in Colombo, he had to sit next to the ECB chairman, Giles Clarke, as details of his "reintegration process" were sternly issued. His response was to bat as well as ever. His 186 in Mumbai was a jewel in England's crown as they won a Test series in India for the first time in 28 years.

The detente was short-lived, however, as cracks reappeared on England's disastrous 2013-14 tour of Australia where, despite being the leading run-scorer - a modest achievement in the circumstances - rumours surfaced of a further deterioration in his relationship with Flower. Although Flower himself resigned, the ECB decided to cut its losses a few days later and summarily brought down the curtain on Pietersen's England career as well, citing a need to rebuilt "team ethic and philosophy". An autobiography published later that year was arguably the most outspoken in cricket history as he launched an emotional attack on those he felt had wronged him. It was a desperately sad end. 

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