Kevin Pietersen: The prodigy of modern age batting

It was the 21^st of July 2005. After a lot of deliberation, England decided to pick the little known Kevin Peter Pietersen, famous only for his fallout with the South African board. The decision was welcomed with both garlands and brickbats as England knew that a failure here could end careers. Ashes meant pride and honour. After all, that is what the Ashes is known for, among unsuccessful players who have fallen short of the dreaded line.

As he walked into the middle with England tottering at 3/18, he would have felt the pressure of playing for a side like England. Glenn McGrath was breathing fire and it was a matter of when if not how Pietersen would be dismissed. After all, McGrath was one closing in on a rare milestone for a bowler. Yes, the coveted five hundred mark was a stone’s throw away and the downfall seemed pretty evident.

Sledges flew in the air and Pietersen was taunted and tested with neat and tidy bowling. On one end, it was Brett Lee who ran in hard and troubled Pietersen with some spicy quicker ones that tangled with the rib cage while on the other; McGrath was creating enough doubts with his sharp out swinging deliveries.

Two more wickets fell as Pietersen barely managed to survive the oncoming tirade of the fast bowling duo even as England were looking at a humiliating defeat at the start of an important series. But England, having bowled out the mighty Australian batting for a meagre 190 runs were fancying their chances even after the loss of early wickets.

They had Pietersen and the gritty keeper Geraint Jones to salvage some pride by overtaking Australia’s below par total. One good partnership as the commentator kept saying, but it was easier said, than done.

That was the beginning. It was the start of a blazing career, one of a South African born ‘unorthodox’ batsman who seemed like he was not ready to relinquish a chance to prove his mettle. He was elegance personified, rather redefined I should say. As he took guard, it seemed that he was on the mould of Kallis who preferred shuffling across as the ball was being delivered. But the grace and fluidity he exhibited was a class apart from the rest.

He punished the bad deliveries. Period. This was neither Sachin Tendulkar nor Vivian Richards, but a man with a calculative mind and a steadfast attitude. When he pulled, he made sure that the ball was hit with complete power and precision and his drives were another story altogether.

He stepped out and negated the swing generated by McGrath which put him out of his line and length. Here was a batsman who could hurt and question the pride of fast bowlers. He was called a batsman in ‘the Tendulkar mould’ and rightly so.

As he powered his way to a debut half-century, hopes were restored and the barmy army were in full flow calling out to Pietersen, demanding more. He was starting become one of their own, if not already. He battled even after the departure of Jones, carrying the hopes of millions of fans even as wickets kept falling at the other end. Pietersen was suddenly left with no choice but to aim for some quick runs. He punished McGrath, Lee and clobbered Warne for a humongous six over midwicket.

Finally, fate intervened as he mistimed a shot and Damien Martyn ended his magnificent innings with a stupendous catch running through the midwicket boundary. The England scorecard read 122 at the time of his dismissal and frankly, it would have been a disaster, had he not shown stomach for this battle.

The battle was not quite over. After procuring a decent lead, Australia made up for their wayward batting in the first innings by a prudent display of batting in their second sojourn. Riding on half-centuries from Michael Clarke and Simon Katich, Australia put up a total of 384. The target was set and England had to chase 420 for an outright victory. The impossible term associated in this chase was apparent but more than a victory, the manner in which England had to go down mattered the most.

The second innings started off smoothly with Trescothick and Strauss taking control of the situation. At one point it seemed that England might even be looking for an upsetting win at the home of cricket. Trescothick was prudent to leave the balls outside off-stump and looked to play within his body. Strauss provided able company and together they kept Australia at bay for more than two precious hours.

England had resisted the potent new ball and Trescothick was set for a huge score when disaster struck in the form of Lee who provided Australia with the first breakthrough. Two more wickets fell cheaply and the writing was on the wall. Enter Pietersen. While some critics openly commented on the luck factor in the first innings as he raced to fifty aided by some ferocious (outrageous) shots (slogs), it seemed as though Pietersen walked out to prove them wrong.

He did not waste time in settling down. After having a measure of the bowlers and conditions, Pietersen unleashed an array of strokes ranging from the straight drive to the slog sweep to beautiful effect. Suddenly, the mighty Australian bowling unit looked like a bunch of school boys who were asked to wage a war against a raging monster.

Pietersen understood that the match was slipping away from the hands of England, but he decided to teach Australia the meaning of fear. Australia feared for the first time in a long time. Pietersen was severe to Warne in particular as he shuffled across upsetting his rhythm. It was a smart move and the Aussie seemed at a loss for an answer.

Wickets fell at the other end and England eventually lost the match by 239 runs. It was a humiliating defeat that too in an Ashes opener but England found a gem in Pietersen. He was relentless and daring, two qualities that shook the Australian pride which paved the way for England in the upcoming matches.

England were white-washed in the recent series and the blame has been thrust upon Pietersen. He has been dropped/rested (make what you will) from the ODI team and is being pressurized to retire. There are many worthier knocks of Pietersen that deserves a mention but I wrote about this match in particular to remind the England supporters on what they would be missing without this dynamic batsman walking in at number four. His courage knows no bounds and he has laid down his entire talent to serve England cricket.

Even in the recently concluded Ashes series, Pietersen was their best batsman. He is an experienced batsman and a fighter. He would definitely bounce back from this failure and prove that he is no pushover.

There are many fans who are waiting for his return to fan and I am one among them. Pietersen would be back!