Kevin Pietersen: What he said, really meant and definitely didn’t

Kevin Pietersen is utterly professional.

What he said:

“The IPL is professionalism taken to its logical extreme. All the bullshit and hypocrisy have been turned off.”

Kevin Pietersen has extremely positive things to say about Indian cricketer, Rahul Dravid, and the Indian Premier League (IPL) in his autobiography, ‘KP: The Autobiography’.

Pietersen writes:

“Rahul was a great and heroic Indian batsman in his day. He is also a genius at dealing with spin bowlers. Our conversations and emails were a private masterclass from a genuine guru.

Rahul improved my cricket and helped me develop the way I think about the game. His generosity will stay with me always.”

Rahul Dravid, the former captain of the Indian cricket team also represents Karnataka in the Ranji Trophy (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Dravid emailed him thus:

“KP, you are a really good player, you need to watch the ball and trust yourself… Don’t let anyone tell you that you can’t play spin, I have seen you and you can!”

KP says:

“My playing of spin has gone up a number of levels since I’ve spent time in the IPL, and in particular, since I’ve spoken to Rahul Dravid…In England, batsmen get taught to play with the spin against spin bowlers. In India, the best players of spin get taught to play against it.”

On the IPL:

“The IPL is the future… I could talk about money and the IPL all day to you, but for the friendships alone I would play for free.

I’ve built all my relationships with foreign cricketers while in the IPL. That doesn’t help in the England dressing room… there are not many of those friendships.

There is a culture in India that appreciates if you double down and go for the big shot. It’s a game of cricket, not economics. Not life or death. Take a risk. IPL crowds don’t want to see you batting out singles as you pick and choose which balls to hit. Life is too short.”

What Pietersen really meant:

“All the bullshit and hypocrisy is turned off. Including mine. Or is that especially mine?”

What he definitely didn’t:

“The IPL players, coaches and specially the co-owners are professional in all respects, even the betting. Oye Sressanth, tell them.”