Discarded English batsman Kevin Pietersen flirted with the possibility of playing for his country of birth South Africa on Twitter on Thursday. Pietersen’s former international teammate Darren Gough had suggested that the 35-year-old could play for the Proteas if he continued to be ignored by England.
Speaking about the possibility of Pietersen playing for South Africa, Gough said: “I think he will be tempted, given the way he has been treated, or the way he thinks he has been treated over the past few years. He is not going to play county cricket this year unless somebody comes out of the blue and offers him a ridiculous fee. He definitely won’t play county cricket but he might play T20.”
Social media has since been abuzz with the prospect of the 35-year-old playing alongside the likes of AB de Villiers and Hashim Amla for South Africa.
BBC Sport had reported yesterday that Pietersen will refuse any opportunity of playing for the AB de Villiers-led side, but the Pietermaritzburg-born cricketer was quick to question the article on Twitter.
Pietersen further went to reply to a fan who wanted to know where’d he bat for South Africa if he made the team.
He then sarcastically asked his good friend and television host Piers Morgan if he could play for the Proteas, to which the latter was supportive of since England seem to have no plans of selecting him in any format in the future.
According to ICC rules, a cricketer can play for a different country only four years after he last played an ICC-sanctioned match for the previous country. Pietersen’s last match for England ended on 5 January 2014 so he’ll have to wait until January 2018 to play for South Africa.
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