What’s the story?
It is a body blow to the Indian Premier League that English batsman Kevin Pietersen will not be plying his trade for any franchise this time around after a number of successful seasons over the years. Prior to the IPL auction, he sent out a tweet explaining the reason why he won’t be a part of the 10th edition of the IPL.
Also read: Why Mitchell Johnson almost punched Kevin Pietersen
A fan on Twitter recently asked him which team he would like to own in the IPL, to which he said, “I’ve played at a couple of franchises. Which would I want to own? Delhi. I really, really enjoyed my time in Delhi. It’s such a fun city. So definitely, Delhi. I’m sorry I won’t be there this year, but I might be there in some capacity.”
The context
KP has represented a number of franchises including the Royal Challengers Bangalore, Deccan Chargers, Delhi Daredevils, Sunrisers Hyderabad and the Rising Pune Supergiants making this a really difficult choice for him.
The details
Pietersen chose Delhi as the franchise he would like to acquire. He enjoyed 2 very successful seasons with the side but couldn’t lead them to the IPL trophy. Most notably, in 2012, he enjoyed his best IPL season scoring over 300 runs in 8 matches and also recorded his only IPL century in the same year.
After missing out on the 2013 season, he led the Delhi side in 2014 and despite another good year personally, the team did not live up to expectation.
KP remains one of the most popular cricketers across the globe and is currently playing the Pakistan Super League in Dubai.
IPL stats –
| Matches | Runs | Average | Strike-rate | Highest score |
| 36 | 1001 | 37.07 | 134.72 | 103* |
What’s next?
As he had mentioned in his tweet earlier, KP is looked forward to some extended family time after stints in the Big Bash League and Pakistan Super League. He did drop a hint that he might play a part in some capacity, hinting that he might appear as a guest commentator for a couple of games.
Sportskeeda’s Take
It could have only gone one of two ways with KP either choosing Bangalore or Delhi given the longevity of his association with both the franchises. The fact that he played such a leading role in Delhi might have prompted him to choose the latter as the franchise he would like to acquire.
We hope to see KP represent an IPL franchise next season!
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