It is the time to appreciate what he did in an England shirt: Andrew Strauss on Kevin Pietersen

Kevin Pietersen scored over 30000 international runs in his career.

Strauss and Pietersen has many heated exchanges in their careers. (FoxSports)

Kevin Pietersen announced his retirement from all forms of cricket after helping Quetta Gladiators reach the knockouts of PSL 2018. 

Pietersen, however, did not travel to Pakistan to play the first Eliminator against Peshawar Zalmi. Eventually, Quetta lost the match and were eliminated from the tournament in the process. 

Andrew Strauss, Pietersen's former teammate and Director of England and Wales Cricket has taken the opportunity to thank this champion cricketer for his contribution to England cricket. 

Strauss told BBC Radio 5 live’s Tuffers & Vaughan Show that, “It is the time to appreciate what he did in an England shirt.”

Strauss went on to add that Pietersen was the best England player he had played with. “I think the first thing to say is we’ve had our differences over time, and they’ve been well documented, but thankfully they are very much in the past now,” he said. “It is definitely the time to appreciate what he did in an England shirt. He was a magnificent player, the best England player I played with. Unbelievable talent. He deserves for us to remember the special days he has in an England shirt, and he can go off into retirement feeling pretty happy and comfortable with what he’s achieved in the game.”

Pietersen, 37, called time on his cricketing career last week. Since ECB parted ways with Pietersen in 2014, he has played mostly in Twenty20 leagues around the world. He had been jettisoned after England’s 5-0 loss in the 2013-14 Ashes despite being the highest scorer in the team, and had subsequently lashed out at the ECB and various players in his book, ‘KP: The Autobiography’. There was a slim chance of a comeback in 2015, and Pietersen skipped the Indian Premier League that year to hit 355 not out for Surrey, but Straus subsequently said there had been a ‘trust deficit’ between Pietersen and himself and the England team, shutting the door on his possible England comeback.

The KP -  Strauss conflicts dates back to 2012 when Pietersen was accused of sending derogatory messages to Strauss. 2014 again saw a moment between the two when Andrew Strauss while commentating on a match between MCC and Rest of the World called Pietersen an “absolute c***” mistakenly thinking he was off air. Strauss subsequently issued a public apology on air for his comments.

 
 

By Anshuman Roy - 22 Mar, 2018

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