Pietersen and the IPL

This is the next chapter in the continuation of Kevin Pietersen’s autobiography. Pietersen and the IPL.

In this chapter, Pietersen talks about the IPL and the aversion of English cricket towards it. KP as we all know, love this country. KP spoke to Strauss about IPL. Strauss agreed that he, Pietersen, can play in the IPL as long as he does not miss games for England, which was reasonable. For him, it felt like Strauss telling him how dare you play in the IPL. KP says that he often asks for little adjustment considering the pressure he was under always. Initially, the English players with the exception of Pietersen stayed away from the IPL because it clashed with County cricket and international cricket. ECB was of the opinion that only the money-minded will play in the IPL and it is more or less chaotic, problematic etc. In 2009, KP was bought by RCB for 1.55 Million USD.

When he started to appear in the IPL, he liked the way he felt. He was taken care of much better than he was with England. However, he had to cut short his stint in IPL because of the Test series in England but he certainly admits that the IPL paid for his living for the next 20 years.

The hypocrisy of the ECB

He takes a poke at the ECB for their hypocrisy. ECB as soon as the success of the 2005 Ashes, sold the TV rights to private broadcasters. They took the game away from the free-to-air TV which deprived millions to watch the game. Why did they do it? For money ofcourse. Can they be called as mercenaries? He ponders.

However, he did not find them to be in the wrong. Sports is serious and it needs money, tons of them, to be able to manage a lot of stakeholders. Players are no different. KP is adamant that any sport needs superstars whose faces must be on the sidwalks, trains, billboards for the game to become popular. In a way, he is correct. Indians feed off of stalwarts like Gavaskar, Kapil Dev, Tendulkar, Dhoni, Kohli and Rohit Sharma. He takes further digs at the ECB. Remember, ECB allowed Allen Stanford to land his helicopter on the hallowed turf at Lords of all the places with 20 Million USD in cash. They organised a lot more games to get more money. Yet, they wanted the players to play in County cricket and not go after money.

Whenever KP brings up the topic of IPL, the room turns tense with everyone looking at him and thinking that this fellow is all about money. However, KP was clear in his mind that the English players missed out on IPL. Some of the senior players wanted to play in the IPL but they were afraid what happens if they were not hired and ECB too decided to take disciplinary action. Strauss who went to the IPL 2014 final was simply mesmerised by what he saw. However, he still considered playing for England was a lot more satisfying.

The triumvirate

Now, KP goes onto reveal the shenanigans of the triumvirate, namely, Graeme Swann, Matt Prior and Stuart Broad. Prior among them was the worst of the lot because of his constant abuse of the players. It didn’t bother KP but it bothered the younger team members. He abused the players on and off the field. The trio turned the dressing room into a sort of a bingo hall. The batsmen who were in the team took the abuses and did not respond until Trott did on the field in the game against Bangladesh. Andy Flower did not do anything to discipline these players nor did he ask them to stop the abuse.

Neither did he empathise with KP who began to feel all alone in the dressing room. KP insists that his numbers are good but I believe that if only he had paid a little bit more attention, he could have easily finished with an average of about 52 which is the hallmark of a great batsman of his era. He also dedicates a few pages to his personal life as to how he met his wife Jess and what made them tie the knot or exchange rings. I am not going to go deep into his personal life. I am not that interested in it.

Wrapping up Pietersen and the IPL

The 2009 Ashes approached with KP nursing achilles injury. It had been been bothering him for awhile. He got out on 69 in the first Test at Cardiff and the papers who full of articles criticising him. After the second Test however, he was done for. His injury needed surgery. After the surgery was finished with a few days in the hospital, no one bothered to book a cab for him to go home. He had to do all that by himself and requested the cab driver to bring his things inside the home. KP wasn’t amused with the ECB who couldn’t arrange for such simple things. The rehabilitation didn’t go as planned and he was again rushed to see another doctor who told him that his playing days were over. KP was numb and decided to work hard for the people whom he loved rather than for the ECB.

He was back playing cricket after a few months but found getting runs difficult. Especially, against left-arm spinners. He understood that he had a problem and began to doubt himself until he met Rahul Dravid at the IPL to sort the problem. KP believes that Rahul Dravid was one of the greatest players of spin. He also believes that the IPL is an university which if tapped into properly, will offer a world of suggestions and advise from great cricketers.

Autobiography