Kevin Pietersen says he should not have been made England captain

Kevin Pietersen was sacked from the English team in 2014

Former England batsman Kevin Pietersen has revealed that he should not have been made England captain in 2008 and only took it up because there was nobody else who could do it.

Pietersen was at the helm for five months, after which he resigned as captain in January 2009. After leading in just three Tests and nine one-day internationals, Pietersen stepped down due to a falling out with England coach Peter Moores, who was sacked following the altercation.

“I shouldn’t have got the job but there was no-one else,” Pietersen told the BBC on Friday. “I’d do a much better job now. There were certain circumstances that I wish I had done better. But I’m honest enough to admit it was a bad time for me to captain.”

Pietersen also said that Michael Vaughan was the best captain he worked under and recalled how the former Yorkshire batsmen was able to instill confidence in him.

“When I went to South Africa, he (Vaughan) said to the guys, ‘This is going to be a very hostile environment for KP and we’re going to look after him like one of us,’” the South African-born batsman said. “If anyone goes after him in any situation, we as a collective unit will absolutely crucify whoever goes at him and we’re going to defend him.”

“That speech gave me confidence. I thought, ‘Geez, I’ve got this great captain of England who is telling me I’m going to play and he’s going to back me and he wants every single player to back me.’ The confidence that gave me made me play the way I did for him,’” he added.

His relationship with the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) never fully recovered after the dispute with Moores. This came to a head in 2012 when, after a disagreement over his schedule, Pietersen announced his retirement from all forms of international limited-overs cricket on 31 May. Although he later retracted his retirement, the 35-year old’s relationship with both the ECB and his team-mates soured during the series against South Africa and he was dropped for the final Test of that series.

Pietersen, who hit 8,181 runs in 104 Tests including 23 centuries, was sacked by England last year on grounds of being detached from the team and a number of other incidents that culminated in a 5-0 Ashes defeat in Australia.