Kevin Pietersen is a cricketer of South African descent who started his career in South Africa and finished it in England. He was born in the South African city of Pietermaritzburg on June 26, 1980.
He is a right-handed batsman who also has the potential to bowl right-handed off breaks.
Background
At the age of 17, Kevin Pietersen joined the Natal B squad in South Africa. His knocks brought him to England for County Cricket, where he was approached by an English coach about playing for England.
Kevin rejected the bid because he was unhappy with South Africa’s racial quota scheme. He was expected to play for an English County for four years, and his outstanding results for Nottinghamshire secured him a place in the English national team right away.
Debut
Kevin Pietersen made his One-Day International debut against Zimbabwe in Harare in November 2004. In his first match, he batted safely and returned unbeaten after leading his team to victory.
In the following match, his aggressive knock of an unbeaten 77 runs secured him his first Man of the Match award and a permanent place in the national team.
Rise to Glory
Kevin was in the squad for the following South Africa season, and his participation made the series a contentious one. After hitting a century to help England tie the match, he was booed by the South African crowd. He was branded a traitor, but Pietersen had little effect on him.
He went on to win the Player of the Series award as well as his Test and T20 spots with scores of 75, 100, and 116 in the other matches. With 34 runs and three catches, he was a standout on the ground, but he couldn’t help England secure its first T20 international.
He made back-to-back fifties in Test cricket during the 2005 Ashes, but no century. Furthermore, he fielded poorly, allowing Australia to win the Ashes 5-0.
Kevin outperformed the rest of the team in the upcoming matches against India and Sri Lanka. In 2006, he debuted his brand new Palti Hit (Switch Hit) on Muttiah Muralitharan against Sri Lanka, and went on to hit more centuries.
In the 2010 ICC World T20 finals, his memorable knock helped England secure their first ICC crown.
Club Career
Kevin has been a consistent club player in the Indian Premier League, playing for teams such as Royal Challengers Bangalore, Sunrisers Hyderabad, Delhi Daredevils, among others. He has also represented Quetta Gladiators in the Pakistan Super League and the Melbourne Stars in the Big Bash League.
Captaincy
Kevin was offered his place as captain after Michael Vaughan stepped down, which he had initially declined to consider. However, while guiding the team to a 4-0 win over South Africa, he was unable to avert a 5-0 defeat to India in 2008.
He kept doing well, but his disagreements with his teammates and coach John Moore stopped him from being a good captain. Moore was then fired after he quit.
Retirement
Kevin declared his retirement in 2012, but the England Cricket Board rehired him later that year. He went on to make some good knocks, but his disputes with team managers and representatives ultimately forced him to retire in 2014.