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KP has his swagger back!

Blaze 18

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

Woodster

International Captain
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.
 

tooextracool

International Coach
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.
 

Woodster

International Captain
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.
 

tooextracool

International Coach
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.
 

Howe_zat

Audio File
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.
 

Furball

Evil Scotsman
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.
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.
 

tooextracool

International Coach
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.
 

GIMH

Norwood's on Fire
GF provided a decent list of big match situations that KP has performed in the other day tbf
 

Woodster

International Captain
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.
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.
 
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Howe_zat

Audio File
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:

Swerving between the slalom gates of success and failure like a drunken Olympic skier, Pietersen has had one bad series in the 14 he has played, but, arguably, not a single great one. Between the last Ashes and the start of the recent West Indies series, Pietersen scored nine centuries in 22 Tests, but still averaged only just over 50, alternating between the golden underpants of triumph and the dank jockstrap of failure with no apparent link to current form.

Increasingly capable of painstakingly over-careful accumulation, or tub-thumpingly reckless aggression, Pietersen has at times demolished Warne and Muralitharan, but is vulnerable to club-standard finger spin. As captain, he even managed to coax an outburst of baffling unpredictability from the stolid old ECB. Anything seems possible with Pietersen. Would it really be a surprise if he came out to bat dressed as Elvis or scored a 60-ball hundred whilst batting with a dead ferret instead of a bat?
 

Woodster

International Captain
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.
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!!
 

tooextracool

International Coach
Meh, I think these are just tags that people like to stick on people after a few notable performances that stay with them for life. For example, 'Bell is a bit soft' or Collingwood is a 'dogged fighter'. Not that it isnt true in some cases (like in Collingwood's) but its a little bit silly when you have to use performances from 5 years ago to justify the logic behind it.
 

tooextracool

International Coach
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!!
The last time KP played a knock on a big occasion was when he became captain (which was 2.5 years ago). This obviously leads down the route that hes failed on pretty much every big occasion since then and that includes the 2009 Ashes and the away series in South Africa. His record on the big stage is not as good as people make it out to be IMO.
 
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Woodster

International Captain
The last time KP played a knock on a big occasion was when he became captain (which was 2.5 years ago). This obviously leads down the route that hes failed on pretty much every big occasion since then and that includes the 2009 Ashes and the away series in South Africa. His record on the big stage is not as good as people make it out to be IMO.
As the article says, it was his first hundred for over 18 months, so clearly he has not been in the kind of form associated with a player of his calibre. The 2009 Ashes, he was clearly struggling, and only managed two games!

You're clearly focusing on his away series in SA, not the home on where he averaged over 60, the convenient thing about stats based opinions is being selective which ones you use.

It's clearly a point we will struggle to agree on, that's the way it goes.
 

GIMH

Norwood's on Fire
I know we're talking Tests, but he was MOTT in the T20 WC, our first ever global triumph. Fairly big stage.
 

tooextracool

International Coach
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:
I actually tend to agree with this. I dont think theres any pattern in Pietersen's performances. Think every time he scores people justify it as 'oh its the big stage, he always performs on the big stage', yet we've probably seen more brainless dismissals in big match situations where he could really have made a name for himself.
 

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