KP has his swagger back!
 

It's been a long wait for Kevin Pietersen, this was his 18th Test since he smashed his last hundred at the Queens Park Oval, Trinidad, his 28th innings, and finally that particular monkey has been comprehensively removed from his back

Cricket Web - Ashes HQ 2010-2011: The swagger is back!

Yeah, that was a phenomenal innings. He always seems to raise his game against the Australians, doesn't he ? Brilliant player.

Yes he seems to love the whole occasion against Australia, series' against sides such as Bangladesh and the likes don't exactly seem to get his juices flowing. Just hope this innings is the start of a golden run for him.

Im not sure I agree with these 'juices flowing' business. The guy has failed in some pretty big series lately (not against the likes of Bangladesh), in fact the 2 best pace bowling attacks going around have made him look completely clueless. If that isn't motivation enough that he needs the added incentive of the convicts on the same ground to motivate himself, then quite frankly he shouldn't be playing.

He is clearly not going to succeed on every big occasion, no player does. He is also going to go through form problems, like every other player. He thrives on the big stage, when he is the centre of attention, when he has something to prove.

Does he really though? His average against Bangladesh is superior to his record against every other country, this is while he has been going through the worst patch in his career. This runs counter to your argument that he cant motivate himself unless he's on the big stage.

Equally, his record against Pakistan and SA is not as good as his record against other countries. The record against SA is not poor, but considering that he has a lot to prove against his country of birth, its hardly something that stands out either.I really think this whole 'he's a showman, likes to perform on the big stage' is all blown out of proportion by the fact that he had a really amazing start to his career where he just so happened to perform in big situations. That was 2005, in 2010 his double hundred is more of a footnote, considering that England already had already put in the hard yards and were ahead of Australia by the time he walked in to bat.

It was quality stuff from KP. Say what you like about the Aussie bowling but it's a rare batsman that has the panache to just saunter down the pitch and dismiss 90mph deliveries through midwicket. Vintage Pietersen.

He averaged 60 with a SR of 70 in the home series against South Africa in 2008, I'd say that was proving a point. The away series drags down his average because he was in shocking form at the time, I reckon Pietersen will end his career with an excellent average against South Africa. This is a guy who on his first tour with England scored 3 tons in a 7 match ODI series in South Africa, remember.

Im not saying he won't score runs against SA. Just think that people's opinion of him being a big match player is outdated. The guy used to perform on the big stage in 2005. Since then hes hardly done anything to suggest that he enjoys these sorts of situations.

GF provided a decent list of big match situations that KP has performed in the other day tbf

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Think you'll find on the majority of occasions where he is at the centre of the piece, he will perform, whether that's in his Test debut series vs Australia in 2005, the return Ashes series in Australia where he averaged 54.44, his first game as Test captain, etc, the list goes on. He loves the big crowds, the chance to entertain.

Trying to find any measure of patterns or consistency in KP's record is a bit of a thankless task to be honest. From Andy Zaltzman:

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Tbf, the fact that Bangladesh is the only country he has not scored a hundred against suggests they haven't seen his best. Yes he's a step above their bowlers but he clearly hasn't made them pay when you consider what he's capable of. Two not outs in seven innings goes some way top explaining his high average. I hardly think that counters my argument, and it's not that he cannot motivate himself to perform against sides such as Bangladesh, he just prefers the bigger occasions!!