KEVIN PIETERSEN: ONE OF GAME'S GREATEST BATSMAN

Kevin Pietersen has been one of the most enigmatic & charismatic cricketers of the modern era.Dominant & competitive on the field yet controversial.Kevin Pietersen or KP as he is fondly called is a South African born English batsman who after playing domestic cricket in South Africa voiced his displeasure at the quota system that existed in the South African National Team & left to play for the England Cricket team.Kevin Pietersen has been one of the dominant batsman that the game of cricket has seen in the last decade or so.

Only Matthew Hayden & Ricky Ponting come close to KP'S dominance on the field.Kevin Pietersen made his test match debut against the formidable Aussie side in 2005 captained by Ricky Ponting & immediatlely made headlines with his heroics with the bat & the Mowhawk haircut that he sported.With an impressive debut series against the Aussies whereby he scored 473 runs @ an more than impressive average of 52.55 he was named the man of the series for his effort which included a series clinching 158. The succes on the tours of Zimbabwe,South Africa & the Ashes immediately made KP a huge hit with the fans.KP is the fastest batsman to reach the milestone of 1000 & 2000 runs in ODI cricket emulating the all time great Sir Viv Richards.In the Test arena too,KP was adamant on breaking more records & being an all time great as he had the second highest run total from first 25 tests only behind another legend Sir Donald Bradman,in terms of days he was also the fastest to 4000,5000& 7000 test runs.Although Kevin Pietersen's career hasn't been short of controversies.His eccentric personality combined by his enigma has landed him in a soup many a times in a career.First he had a fallout with the England Cricket Team National Coach Peter Moores,he also resigned from the captaincy after a short stint & also announced his retirement from the ODI arena though he would retract later & continue to play for England.He also had a famous fallout with England & Wales Cricket Board,Captain Andrew Strauss & teamates owing to which he was widely criticised which put his hall of fame career in jeopardy.It all became soon  sorted as England coach Andy Flower sorted out things within the team the issue of KP included.He has been one of the most loved cricketers round the globe.According to a survey out of all the successful international cricketers,the cricketer that the Indian Public loved & wanted to watch play the most in the IPL was Kevin Pietersen.KP was majestic with the bat in the T20 world cup help in the west indies in 2010 & for his heroics he was also named the man of the series.He has constantly thrashed teams like India,Pakistan,South Africa,Australia & New Zealand.In 98 tests KP has amassed over 7775 runs batting at no.4 position with 23 hundreds & 31 half centuries @ an average of 48.74 & in the ODI circuit he has scored 4369 runs in 132 ODI'S @ an average of 41.60 with 9 centuries & 24 half centuries,both records being impressive.An intimidating batsman KP likes to dominate the bowling & at times even come as far as on the half crease to hit a shot,not many batsman besides Matthew Hayden have done that.KP has been widely considered been one of the most feared batsman in recent times in International Cricket.He has regularly thrashed the Indian bowling attack at his will by scoring 6 impressive big hundreds against them including 2 double tons. His highest test score being 227 against the Aussies in their own backyard at the Adeilade Oval which won the match convincingly for England.

His famous yet controversial shot "Switch Hit" through which he scored huge sixes to many fast & spin bowlers was soon banned by the ICC owing to the legality of the shot.He loves hitting the big shots especially huge sixes & dominating the bowlers at his will owing to which he is widely considered as a dominant batsman.He has been an out and out performer for the England Cricket Team.Many cricketing legends & cricketing pundits have already hailed KP as one of the most dominant yet complete batsman that we have seen playing the game of cricket.KP is always in the news be it his attitude,his tattoos,his personality,his on field heroics he is a controversial yet enigmatic character but a character that wins matches for England on his own.Fans love him,fellow cricketers respect his game & cricketing pundits have always named KP as Engalnd's greatest Modern Era Batsman.KP has always been  a difficult character to understand but a performer,no one can deny his greatness.The aura of KP has made him a huge hit with fans & cricketing legends. As a self confessed Kevin Pietersen fan i feel he has all the shots in the book, is an all time great & a great character to watch be it the IPL or any form of cricket.KP has always stated in interviews that he intends to be one of the game's greatest batsman & score 10000 test runs @ an average of 50+ to be in the league of all time greats only a confident person would say that in public.His career has had the share of  lows &  highs but it hasn't stopped KP from being the kind of character he is the kind of crickter he is to countinue as performer at the highest level.His attitude is quite similar to that of Boxing Legend Muhammad Ali,strive to be the best,fierce attitude yet charming personality & unmatched performance with the bat.Kevin Pietersen for his majestic ability with the bat & his superman heroics owing to which the England team has become a success should be credited as one of the game's greatest batsman  ever if not the greatest.