#360debate: Should Kevin Pietersen be brought back into the England set-up?

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  • In focus: Kevin Pietersen was omitted from England's limited overs squad.

    Controversial batsman Kevin Pietersen is in the limelight again after being overlooked for the World Cup next year in Australia and New Zealand. He is arguably a fantastic talent, but after the “Textgate” scandal in 2012 when he betrayed his captain, Andrew Strauss, many people believe he should not represent England again. What's your view?

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    Our #360debate today is: Should Kevin Pietersen be brought back into the England set-up?

    Ajit Vijaykumar, Sub Editor, thinks YES

    It’s difficult to change perceptions, especially if they are well established and held by those who matter.

    England batsman Kevin Pietersen must be feeling helpless after being overlooked for England’s one-day side at the tri-series in Australia and the subsequent World Cup.

    It’s a helplessness that comes from knowing that no matter how badly your national team needs you, you will not be called upon. It’s unfortunate that England selectors, including coach Peter Moores, are not a big fan of Pietersen. His cavalier attitude and insistence on doing things his way is regarded as arrogance, and it’s probably the correct assessment. He has rubbed so many people the wrong way, the senior members of the establishment feel it’s better to lose without him. 


    But we need to ask ourselves a question – does every member of the playing XI have to be a ‘team player’? What’s wrong in having a larger-than-life figure in the dressing room who is rough around the edges but is brilliant at what he does?

    No matter what the critics say, Pietersen is by far the best limited overs batsman England have ever produced and the most successful batsman in his country’s history.

    England has tasted success at the world stage in limited overs cricket only once – at the 2010 World T20 and guess who was the star performer… KP, the player of the tournament. Sure, England might not need him in Test attire, as they have a good crop of players who can excel in the longer format of the game.

    But if the Englishmen are serious about resurrecting their ODI fortunes, they simply have to bring Pietersen back into the fold. With captain Alastair Cook shown the door after a string of poor scores, England should have given Pietersen a chance to prove himself in the tri-series against Australia and India. Having a proven performer in your team can’t be so repulsive an idea.

    It’s still not too late, if the England management can relent, to have KP back and get the most out of the three or four years left in him. It would be such a waste to see a great talent like him simply fade away.

    Steve McKenlay, Editor, thinks NO

    The fact that Kevin Pietersen is an extraordinary talent has never been the issue here. I actually agree with Matthew Hayden. It is ludicrous that a player of his calibre isn’t playing for England, particularly in the short form of the game where he excels, but that doesn’t mean he should be reinstated because he only has himself to blame for being cast out by the ECB.

    KP is a walking ego timebomb, as are so many elite sportsmen, and he became a maverick in the England camp, a situation that was always going to end in tears. Perhaps the ECB failed to handle him properly because undoubtedly it is sometimes best to make a special case for players who can make the difference on the field of play, as he clearly can.

    But that is a high risk strategy that if allowed to go too far can be divisive in the dressing room where allowing some individuals to get away with behaviour deemed unacceptable to most others leads to resentment.

    But, for me, the reason KP should never be allowed to play for England again boils down to the “Textgate” scandal in 2012 when, in my opinion, he betrayed his captain, Andrew Strauss and that is unforgiveable. To turn on your skipper and effectively the rest of your team-mates with derogatory texts to the opposition, in this case South Africa, was totally unacceptable.

    Suggestions that he passed on tactical information about Strauss’s batting vulnerability were subsequently denied by KP but the suspicion lingers, like a bad smell.

    On top of that he then wrote the inevitable book which put an entirely negative spin on a glorious episode in English cricket when Strauss led the team to Ashes glory, both home and away and to top spot in the World Test rankings. In the words of Strauss it “dispelled the magic” and feeling of proud achievement that surrounded that chapter.

    There are arguments for letting bygones be bygones and Strauss himself says that one day perhaps all can be forgiven but for now there is no way Kevin Pietersen should be allowed to represent England again and for me, there should never be a way back. End of story.

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