There is no denying the fact that former England captain, Kevin Pietersen is one of the most honest analysts of the game. He is known for expressing his opinion without any bias. Recently, he gave his opinion on some of the franchises in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 and how the England Test team will change in the coming years under the captaincy of Ben Stokes.
Surprisingly, IPL 2022 has been ruled by the brand new franchise entrants Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) and Gujarat Titans (GT), especially the latter. Pietersen is pleasantly surprised with the positive performance of GT in the tournament so far as they didn’t look like such a solid team on paper before the tournament had started. GT has managed to churn out wins from some of the improbable scenarios and that has been a center of attraction this season.
Kevin Pietersen reckons that the Titans have created a winning environment in the dressing room and that reminds him of Shane Warne’s Rajasthan Royals (RR), who the title in the inaugural edition of the IPL in 2008, despite being one of the dark horses. Describing the same, Pietersen asserted, that a team can’t win games like GT if the dressing room isn’t positive.
Pietersen also opined then when a team wins games consistently like GT, there is no room left for discussion related to the defeats in the dressing and it helps the management to pull out the best performances from the players on the field. Giving the example of Rashid Khan, a former English skipper recalled how the leggie kept his nerves and control and took Gujarat over the line against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in a stiff-looking chase.
Talking about some of the other teams in the IPL 2022, Pietersen also lauded Rajasthan Royals for their clinical wins and he reckons that Delhi Capitals (DC) will also reach the playoff because of the experience they are having in the squad. While talking about the other IPL franchises, Kevin Pietersen didn’t forget to slam Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), who have witnessed a forgettable outing this season.
KKR had started their campaign well with 3 wins in the first four games but they lost the momentum in the middle and now they don’t even stand a chance to reach the playoffs as well. Pietersen pointed out the errors made by KKR and he opined that they had used too many players and that created a sense of doubt among players and it has been one of the reasons behind his consistent defeats. He reckons that KKR has a lot of negative energy in their dressing and their campaign hasn’t been different from Mumbai Indians (MI), who have won just 3 games in the 15th edition of the tournament.
Former England captain also shares his views on the importance of spinners in IPL 2022. He revealed that the commentator has been enjoying the consistent performances of the spinners this season and a lot of credit for the same goes to the pitches as well.
In IPL 2022, the pitches have managed to produce a lot of bounce and grip, which has helped the spinners to left the batter clueless with subtle variations in the ongoing season. Kevin Pietersen is especially impressed with the performances of the Indian wrist-pin duo of Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal. He reckons that ‘Kulcha’ seems to have gained their mystery back and now they are leaving no stone unturned in troubling the batters.
Kevin Pietersen was also impressed with Ben Stokes being appointed as the Test captain of the English team. He feels that it’s an honor for any player to lead an international side and Stokes and his family must be incredibly proud. He opined that Stokes has it in him to bring the much-needed gravitas to the English leadership group. As England’s Managing Director, Rob Key has vouched to bring the best coaching system, and Pietersen has applauded the move as well.
The former English skipper concluded by sharing an expectation that it would great the England cricket if they managed to rope in Graham Ford as England’s coach in the longest format of the game. According to Pietersen, Ford is an astute reader of the game and he can analyze the game better than most people going around. Kevin Pietersen also reckons that English cricket still requires a radical overhaul of the system.
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