As expected, Kevin Pietersen spilled his guts regarding his expulsion from the England team as soon as the confidentiality clause agreed with the England board as part of his severance expired.
Out came the knives and Pietersen spared no one in his autobiography. Captain Alastair Cook was called a company man, the then coach Andy Flower dour while a large dose of vitriol was reserved for wicketkeeper Matt Prior, who was deemed a bully and a bad influence.
KP has explained, in vivid detail, what transpired in the lead up to his ouster and who said what behind closed doors. His critics might not agree with what he had to say of his team-mates but the fact is he deserved to have his side of the tale heard.
However, the issue here is how he went about doing it and also the timing of the autobiography.
Pietersen and his writer have dug deep to call his targets the most colourful of names and that simply does not befit the greatest international run-scorer in England’s history.
Picking on former team members who are down on confidence after a string of defeats and are fighting for their spot can never win the public’s support. It’s too brutal to digest.
While there is no doubt that Pietersen is one of the most prolific batsmen to have played for England and was not the worst player in the team when he was shown the door, the manner in which he pounced on his targets as soon as the confidentiality clause expired shows that deep down he knew his career is over. The time was ripe to hit back as hard as possible and inflict maximum damage.
And a lot of damage has been done. This is a highly sensitive stage in England’s cricketing journey and KP’s autobiography has pulled the rug from under their feet.
The England team, whose 2015 World Cup campaign was already struggling to gather steam, now have an added task of shielding their young players from the splinters of this explosive outburst and make sure they focus on at least putting up a good show in Australia and New Zealand next year.
Cook is struggling to put bat to ball and now has to suffer the ignominy of having his credentials as a captain questioned.
Pietersen could have easily said what he had to say next year, preferably after the World Cup. His views would still have carried a lot of weight and in the aftermath of their World Cup campaign, however they would have turned out, England could have charted a new way forward taking into account Pietersen’s views.
Who knows, KP could somehow have been part of that World Cup squad Down Under, such is the paucity of reliable limited overs players in England.
But with this move, the 34-year-old has brought an end to a highly successful, albeit controversial, career and also ensured that the team is in such disarray, it will take a long time to gather the pieces.
Maybe Pietersen was the victim of circumstances. Maybe he was just a misunderstood genius who only wanted to score as many runs as possible and win matches for England.
But once the dust settles on this ugly saga, Pietersen will unfortunately be remembered as someone who took everyone down with him.
And that is a sad way to sign off for a once-in-a-generation player.
