Biograophy of Kevin Pietersen:- Kevin Pietersen was born on 27 June 1980 in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa, Kevin Pietersen is originally and African-English citizen, his father is African, and his mother is an English woman.
He received his education from Africa, he played initial first-class matches for his Province Natal, later moved to England because Kevin thought that he was out of the national side not because of his abilities but to fill in the quota system, he criticized African quota system and called it an injustice.
Kevin Pietersen after joining English county league never looked back, he became a permanent member of English cricket team after completing a mandatory 4-year qualifying session in County and first-class cricket.
Biograophy of Kevin Pietersen
- Born:- 27 June 1980 (age 37), Pietermaritzburg, South Africa
- Height:- 1.93 m
- Spouse:- 21 July 2005 v Australia
- Test Debut:- Jessica Taylor (m. 2007)
- ODI Debut:- 28 November 2004 v Zimbabwe
- Last ODI:- 16 September 2013 v Australia
After making a debut for Natal, KP was asked to contest as the overseas player in Cannock CC, it was a time of opportunity for Kevin Pietersen, and he availed it and permanently moved to England after a while.
See Also: Biography of Andrew Strauss
It was all Kevin Pietersen who was part of the hotel gossips for club selectors, he performed even well in the upper and middle order, his role as an off-spin bowler ended by then in 2000.
Before that period, Kevin Pietersen had to bear racist comments and bad attitude of his teammates in the dressing room, though he was white his black accent was the culprit behind all.
Kevin was seen playing ruthlessly in school and club level cricket by Coach Clive Rice, it took no time for Clive to consider him for Nottinghamshire. Kevin Pietersen accepted the offer and became a part of Notts in the year 2000.
He appeared in most of the county matches in that 4-year period, achieved more success than any of his teammates, it was the reason that after completion of the four-year qualifying period, he was called immediately for International side in 2004.
Kevin Pietersen First-class Career
When Kevin Pietersen toured England for a club tournament for his homeside KwaZulu-Natal in 1999, he got a chance to play for Cannock CC. However, Clive Rice, who already had seen him play in South Africa offered him a 3-year contract with Nottinghamshire, it was a breakthrough for Kevin in the year 2000.
Kevin Pietersen scored a century on his debut for Notts, at the end of the season, he had an impressive average 57.95 with nearly 1300 runs including a double century and another one against Middlesex in the next season.
Later in the 2002 season, Kevin Pietersen was having the best time of his first-class domestic career, he scored four consecutive centuries that included a double century and three tons, he proved himself as one of the most exciting talents in domestic cricket.
In the subsequent season in 2003, KP was unstoppable in the domestic league, he toured India the same year and grabbed 524 runs at an average above 100 in every match.
After a successful start yet a bitter ending with Nottinghamshire, Kevin signed a contract with Hampshire for the next season, in the same year, he was called up for National side. He couldn’t play much for Hampshire because of national duty.
In the next few years, Kevin Pietersen occasionally batted for Hampshire, he was sent on loan to another English club Surrey after 2008. He played a full-fledged season in 2010 scoring century in a first match of the season.
After his resignation from International cricket in 2010, Kevin Pietersen was keen to play county cricket along with the cricket leagues around the world.
International Career of Kevin Pietersen
Kevin was a brilliant all-rounder, an acrobatic catcher, and of course, a perfect batsman. He was a match winner for England. Kevin Pietersen made his debut immediately after the completion of thefour-year mandatory period in first-class cricket.
He was called for Zimbabwe tour after Andrew Flintoff refused to play in Zimbabwe, KP scored brilliantly with 100+ average in all the matches. Starting the tour from a century in the warm-upmatch, KP faced heavy criticism from South African fans and players, some labeled him a traitor of the nation.
His brilliant form continuedon tour, he made a quick century that resulted in a tie, following the century, he scored blazing 75 and then a century off 69 balls, fastest by any English cricketer in ODI match.
Kevin was awarded player of the series award for his brilliant individual performances though England suffered a humiliating 4-1 defeat in South Africa.
In 2005, Kevin Pietersen stats were not impressive, he scored quick runs at an average of 46 per innings in the triangular series against Australia and Bangladesh. Kevin was a strong contender to play his first-ever Ashes series, his test debut came off at Lords’ Cricket Ground, he made two half-centuries in two innings, being the top-scorer for his side, he became a fourth English player to top-score in both the innings in his debut.
He scored his first Test century in the final Test at The Oval, he was dropped three times, his first dropped catch at the duck. He went on to make match-winning 158-runs innings. He was compensated with a returned favor by Australian Cricketers as he dropped six catches in the series.
On tour to sub-continent, Kevin Pietersen was flopped by Pakistan spin attack, he could not contribute to the team total, England lost the series 2-0 whitewashed by hosts. In the ODI series, the result was same before he was ruled out due to injuries.
England made their way to India for the next series. Kevin failed again to perform well as he did on tour to South Africa. In a 5-match ODI series against India, KP was the only successful batsman for England, he made his first 1000 runs in 21 matches and equaled the record of Sir Viv Richards in ODI cricket.
When Sri Lanka toured England, Kevin Pietersen was on the top with centuries and single-handedly scoring runs for his team, he was magnificent against the spin attack of Sri Lanka, he reached 1000 runs milestone in Test matches playing his 12th test match.
After making three centuries in a row in three innings, Kevin Pietersen got past Graham Gooch becoming only the second English batsman to do so. At the end of the series, Kevin Pietersen was a man of the series along with a place in ICC Top Ten rankings.
After Pakistan series, England toured Australia for Ashes 2006-2007. It was a real challenge for all the English players to perform in Australian conditions. Kevin Pietersen was the most hyped cricketer of the tour, the Guardian, and The Telegraph termed him one of the most valuable players for England.
He finished the series with an average above 50 in five test matches of the Ashes Series. He was going great in the second Test in Adelaide when he was run out on his highest score 158, it was the third time Kevin Pietersen was out on 158, though he had a good platform to score his first-ever test double century. Kevin Pietersen was the only player shown some resistance in Ashes 2006, England lost the series 5-0.
In the 2007 World Cup, Kevin Pietersen became the number one ODI batsman in ICC rankings. He scored a century against Australia in a losing cause, and two fifties against Kenya and New Zealand.
England failed to qualify for semis, KP ended his World Cup campaign with an average of 55.5 and 444 runs, reaching 2000 ODI runs in 51 matches getting past Asian Bradman Zaheer Abbas.
Later that year, Kevin Pietersen aced the ICC T20 World Cup in South Africa won by India. He was the most successful batsman for England, he scored 17 fours and 6 sixes in the tournament.
In a series against New Zealand, Kevin Pietersen was not quite good with the bat, he had an inferior average of 33 in the ODI series lost by England in New Zealand. Same was the case in test series, he wasn’t quite impressive in the series excluding his hundred at Napier.
In the same year, Collingwood was banned for four test matches, Michael Vaughan became a temporary captain of English test side in 2008. Later, both Vaughan and Collingwood resigned from captaincy, and Kevin Pietersen was now the official captain of England in Test and ODIs.
His first challenge was against his homeland, South Africa. He registered a ton on his debut as a leader and whitewashed South African team 4 to nill in ODI series.
After a humiliating defeat against India in India in 2008, Kevin Pietersen and England Coach PeterMoores was in a direct conflict regarding selection and role of players. In early 2009, Moores was removed as a coach and Kevin was forced to resign from captaincy.
After being withdrawn from the captaincy, Kevin Pietersen played under the new captain Andrew Strauss. He had a good run in Test series against West Indies, but failed in ODI series in West Indies.
In ICC World T20 2010, Kevin Pietersen scored vital innings to guide England to the world cup title in T20 internationals.
In the final against Arch rivals in cricket, Kevin made 111 runs stand with Kieswetter, 47 being his individual score to guide England to its first-ever victory in ICC World T20 Cups. Peter was second highest run-scorer in the tournament with the best strike rate of 137.
Pietersen was back in form for 2010-11 Ashes series held in Australia. England won the series comprehensively and retained the title by beating opponents 3-1. Kevin Pietersen hits his second double century in Tests and his highest individual score in the second test.
Later that year, Australia won ODI series 6-1 where Pietersen couldn’t do any better after his 78 runs in the first ODI.
Kevin Pietersen was included in the ICC World Cup 2011, he was injured during a practice match and replaced by Eion Morgan for the whole tournament. Later in a home series against India, Kevin Pietersen scored another double century at Lords.’, with that century Kevin Pietersen got past 6000 runs in Test Cricket. In the fourth test, yet another quality innings of 175 came against Indian side.
In 2012, Kevin Pietersen retired from limited overs cricket, he continued to play in Test cricket. After his 23rd century, he was only English player to get past 22 centuries.
In 2013-14 Ashes, his batting was miserable, he averages 29 runs per innings that resulted in a 5-0 series defeat for England. After the Ashes defeat, ECB told Kevin to retire as they are no more considering him for future plans.
Kevin Pietersen Family & Personal Life
Kevin Pietersen married Jessica Taylor, a former singer at Liberty X. marriage ceremony was held in Wiltshire ON 29th December 2007. They have two kids, a son Dylan and daughter Rosie.
Dylan was born on 11thMay 2010 during ICC T20 World Cup, and Rosie was born on 27th December 2015 during Big Bash League. Kevin Pietersen’s father Jannie is an African, his mother Penny is an English citizen. Kevin has three brothers Tony, Greg, and Brian.
The biography of Kevin Pietersen was released in four versions, his first Autobiography, Kevin Pietersen: Crossing the Boundary, second one named Kevin Pietersen: Portrait of a Rebel, third one KP – The Biography, and KP: The Autobiography was released after a gap of a year in 2014. KP is famous for his arrogant attitude and controversial statements, his career is full of controversies with teammates and officials.
Kevin Pietersen in Cricket Leagues
In the second season of Indian Premier League, Kevin Pietersen was bought by Royal Challengers Bangalore for $1.5 Million becoming the highest-paid player in IPL. He was made the captain of RCB, he played six matches as a captain.
In the 2010 season of IPL, KP was sold to Deccan Chargers, he was later traded for the next season to Delhi DareDevils in 2012. He played for Melbourne Stars in Big Bash League.
He has now signed as a mentor and player of PSL team Quetta Gladiators for 2017 season of Pakistan Super League after having a successful 2016 season for Gladiators.
