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kevin pietersen
Kevin Pietersen: What he said, really meant and definitely did not
Kevin Pietersen Wishes He Had Exclusive Copyrights To ‘Palti Hit’
What he said:
"I should’ve taken a patent on that shot… With so many batsmen playing it these days, I would have made a pile from the royalty."
Kevin Pietersen regrets not patenting the “Switch Hit”, a shot in which he switches grips and sides, inverting field placements and befuddling bowlers with his power hitting—equally devastating in his left-handed avatar.
What he really meant:
“The Pepsi commercial doesn’t count, of course.”
What he definitely didn’t:
“Definitely easier pickings than penning an autobiography.”
Graeme Swann: What he said, really meant and definitely did not
Graeme Swann Is Not a ‘Character Assassinator’
What he said:
“They would have realised it was not a character assassination.”
Graeme Swann clears the air on the controversy surrounding Kevin Pietersen’s portrayal in his autobiography, “The Breaks Are Off”.
Swann, in his book, dissed the No.4 saying he was not a natural leader and should never have been made skipper.
Swann is skipper of the T20 side and needs Kevin Pietersen to fire on all cylinders to salvage a disastrous ODI tour of India where the visitors were thrashed 5-0.
Swann said:
“My relationship with KP has unchanged. It’s fine. I am afraid people churned out stories that did not exist.”
Swann defended his characterisation of KP:
When I wrote the book it was certainly not a character assassination on anyone. It was certainly not more than myself. So I did not feel the alter the timing of its release.
It was an opinion of mine some years ago. Some people chose that for a headline of me slamming (Pietersen). A few more people could have seen it the way it was and they would have realised it was not a character assassination.
What Graeme Swann really meant:
“And they would have realised that the book is a huge bore.”
What Graeme Swann definitely didn’t:
“Kevin, how about a half-way split of the royalties?”
Andy Flower: What he said, really meant and definitely did not
Andy Flower Calls Foul On The Written Word
What he said:
I personally don’t think that it’s a good idea for current players to be talking about their fellow players. The written word does come across very, very differently — when you can’t judge a person’s tone — and particularly with Swann’s words, that is an accurate and important point.
English cricket team director, Andy Flower, is unequivocal that Graeme Swann was inappropriate in his criticism of then skipper and fellow teammate, Kevin Pietersen, in his autobiography, “The Breaks Are Off”—serialised in an English daily.
Swann is severe on Pietersen terming him the wrong person for the job.
Flower, however, brushed aside suggestions that the book has caused strife within the team.
Flower said:
“It’s all been handled in-house — without many problems. Pietersen and Swann get on well, and I think Pietersen has handled it very maturely.”
Commenting further on Pietersen, currently touring India for the return ODI series, Flower considers the No.4 an integral part of the squad:
When Kevin was competing in the game any -comments in a book had no place in his mind.
I expect him to score runs, that is why we pick him. If we didn’t expect it we wouldn’t pick him so I look -forward to him doing that soon. I personally disagree with -current players making comments about their team-mates. My personal opinion is that it is not the right thing to do.
I don’t think the commercial opportunities are that important to be honest. However, I think Pietersen has handled it very well and he and Swann get on fine. I think he has handled it very maturely and there aren’t any issues arising from it.
What Flower really meant:
“What you say, is very, very different when it’s written out. There’s a finality about it that’s damning. One thing to hear it, quite another to read it—in print.”
What Flower definitely didn’t:
“I guess it’s all right if the same thing were to be reiterated over and over again—verbally! Sledge him with it, chaps.”
Graeme Swann: What he said, really meant and definitely did not
Graeme Swann Provides Skipper Material
What he said:
“I lose my rag fairly easily, so the captains I’ve enjoyed playing under are the ones who don’t get flustered in the middle even when the pressure is on.”
Graeme Swann expounds on his reasons why Kevin Pietersen was not the right choice for skipper of the English cricket side.
Swann wrote—in the Sun:
There is no doubt Kevin Pietersen is a really fine batsman but he was never the right man to captain England.
Some people are better leaders of men and Kev, for all his talent, is not one of those natural leaders.
The English off-spinner further elaborated that he needed someone “who can calm me down”.
Swann said—of Pietersen:
“At one point in India, his leadership was reduced to screaming ‘F****** bowl f****** straight’ at everyone.”
Swann contrasts Andrew Strauss’ leadership saying “he is one of those guys who demands respect.”
The No. 1 Test bowler in the world commended Strauss:
He always says the right things and his word is never questioned.
If you were in the trenches, you’d pick him to be in charge and his captaincy is founded on leading from the front. He can be hard-nosed, too, if necessary.
What Graeme Swann really meant:
“You can rest assured asking me to ‘F****** bowl f****** straight’ got me to do anything but that.”
What Graeme Swann definitely didn’t:
“Just give us a ‘F****** skipper’—as long as it’s not me.”
Graeme Swann: What he said, really meant and definitely did not
What he said:
"I spend half my working life standing next to Strauss and I have to admit he is a bit of a hero to me."
Graeme Swann admits to hero worshipping his skipper, Andrew Strauss.
What he really meant:
“Strauss is the pillar I lean on. As for the other half of my working life, I spend next to KP. Now you know, no real comparison.”
What he definitely didn’t:
“Andrew, you’re the wind beneath my wings.”
Indian cricket: Bloody headlines, turnaround captains and a lesson
“A bad Board lets a good side down”
“RIP. World’s No.1 Test Team”
“India surrender No. 1 Test Spot”
“Humiliation is complete, No.1 crown lost”
The headlines in the DNA, Times Of India, Hindustan Times and Indian Express read as above on an Independence Sunday, for the Indian cricket fan to fully absorb a dismal, abrupt, abject end to the Indian team’s pretensions to greatness.
The knives are out, reams of analysis will be printed, experts will make a million suggestions and scapegoats will be discovered and punished over the coming weeks and months.
Should the surrender be total, and it is certainly more than a mere possibility despite MS Dhoni’s brave words at the post-match conference, the stewardship of the Indian cricket team would be on the line.
India Cricket: 5 conspiracy theories why Team India failed in England
1) In a mass séance, souls of Indian batsmen transposed into their English counterparts’ bodies. It’s no wonder, we have Kevin Pietersen batting like Sachin Tendulkar and Alastair Cook doing a Gautam Gambhir and Virender Sehwag—the best of both.
2) The cricketers’ families are being held hostage at gun-point by ex-SAS mercenaries. They will be released when the desired result is achieved—a 4-0 thrashing.
MS Dhoni wins hearts: Team India fail second Test
Of the two sides fighting for the No.1 Test spot, only one stepped up to the plate; that side was not India.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni won hearts with his sporting act on the third day of the second nPower Test series.
His team’s performance, however, raised a lot more questions.
England Lord it over Team India in first Test
Mahendra Singh Dhoni had this to say about the first Test loss at Lords: “What could go wrong, went wrong.”
The Indian skipper attributed the defeat to three factors: Zaheer Khan’s injury, the lack (consequently) of a third seamer (the Jharkhand native rolled his arm over) and misfortunes (Gautam Gambhir’s elbow blow and Sachin Tendulkar’s viral flu) that forced the reshuffling of the batting order in the final innings.
Kevin Pietersen: What he said, really meant and definitely did not
What he said:
“We realise you guys have got a job to do, and if I give you ammunition you’re going to fire the gun.”
Kevin Pietersen concedes it is the press’ prerogative to criticise if he does not perform as expected. He, however, challenges the perception that he is vulnerable to left-arm spin.
What he really meant:
“The sporting press feeds off the players. If the players achieve, they’re demi-gods, virtually untouchable. If they do not, they’re worse than pariahs, to be torn down.”
What he definitely didn’t:
“You—the press—were firing blanks at me. It didn’t hurt—at all.”
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