Pietersen was born in Pietermaritzburg, schooled at Maritzburg College and made his first-class debut for the KwaZulu-Natal provincial team in 1998/99. He left in 2001 to qualify for England and became their highest run-scorer in all international cricket with 13 797 runs from 104 Tests, 136 ODIs and 37 T20s, not to mention the sheer entertainment he provided.
With the England hierarchy making it clear there is no way back for the 35-year-old, Pietersen has become a gun-for-hire, a T20 master-blaster who travels the world.
Pietersen has commitments to his cricket academy in Dubai from mid-November and the Big Bash in Australia from the middle of December, so he will only be available for the Dolphins’ first five matches in the RamSlam T20 Challenge, but the arrangement is certainly mutually beneficial.
“Why we got him is because he can lead our batting unit, there’s no doubt he can continue to dominate bowling attacks for any team he plays for. You can also add his experience and then there’s the spin-off of the great work he’ll do with our youngsters. He has an amazing work ethic and we’d like that to rub off on our players,” Dolphins coach Lance Klusener said on Tuesday.
Read more on Caxton publication, The Citizen.
