Cricinfo - Players and Officials

Full name Kevin Peter Pietersen
Born June 27, 1980, Pietermaritzburg, Natal
Current age 28 years 196 days
Major teams England, Hampshire, ICC World XI, KwaZulu-Natal, Natal, Nottinghamshire
Nickname KP, Kelves, Kapes, Kev
Batting style Right-hand bat
Bowling style Right-arm offbreak
Height 6 ft 4 in
Education Maritzburg College, University of SA

Kevin Pietersen's career has verged on the extraordinary at every turn. From shunning the South African quota system, to returning to his homeland with three ODI centuries and securing the Ashes with his maiden Test ton. All that came within his first year as an England player, but that was just the start. He quickly became the team's best batsman, and a leading light in world cricket, consistently dominating attacks. His transition from interloper to full Englishmen appeared to be complete when he accepted the England captaincy following Michael Vaughan's resignation and began with a string of wins against South Africa. But his reign lasted barely five months and early in 2009 he resigned after a very public row over the suitability of Peter Moores as coach. People came to expect the mind-boggling from KP, but this caught everyone off guard.

After a quiet debut against Zimbabwe he was thrown in during the one-dayers against South Africa in 2005. Undeterred by hostile receptions from the home crowds, he announced his arrival - loudly, of course - with three centuries in five innings, and in doing so demonstrated his peerless eye for the ball and for making headlines, too. On reaching his maiden ton in the second ODI at Bloemfontein, he kissed his badge with unreserved fervour and afterwards announced his next ambition: getting a tattoo of three lions and his England number. By the end of the series a crowd which had turned their backs on Pietersen stood and applauded him.

Overlooked for two Tests against Bangladesh, he made his Test debut against Australia at Lord's of all places, and responded with a pair of hard-hitting fifties in a losing cause. Six dropped catches in the series appeared to have dented his brash confidence, but with the series at stake, he once again showed his unswerving eye for the limelight by clubbing a phenomenal 158 on the final day at The Oval, to secure the draw that England needed for a first Ashes triumph in 18 years. First to congratulate him on his feat was Shane Warne, his good friend and captain at Hampshire, whom Pietersen had joined at the start of the season after three eventful and fractious years at Nottinghamshire.

A hallmark of Pietersen's batting is the complete confidence he has in his own ability, best emphasised by a remarkable reverse-sweep for six off Muttiah Muralitharan at Edgbaston, which in the following years would develop into the switch-hit that would become the batsman's latest attacking option. He didn't feel any bowler could tie him down, and largely his results supported that bold statement.

England's 5-0 Ashes whitewash and subsequent World Cup failing hurt Pietersen as much as anyone although yet more centuries confirm his advance towards the highest echelon of world batting. His dominance continued against West Indies with a majestic 226 at Headingley - finally beating his previous 158, a score he had made three times previously. It was the highest score by an England batsman since Graham Gooch's 333, and his march towards greatness continued.

When a dip threatened to turn into a trough he bounced back with vital centuries, including a backs-to-the-wall 129 in Napier in 2008 after England were 4 for 3 and another at Trent Bridge the following summer. Those, though, were just the prelude to the innings that he had most craved - a hundred at Lord's in his first Test appearance against his native South Africa, a performance which quashed once and for all the lingering doubts about his switch of allegiance. After a rapturous reception from the Lord's crowd, he later declared he had never felt "so loved".

Just a few weeks later and he had completed his extraordinary journey from naturalised Englishman to England's captain when he took over from Vaughan who announced his retirement just after the third Test against South Africa. As he prepared to lead them in all three forms of the game, Pietersen declared: "I'm going to give it a go like I give everything a go." To begin with he was true to his word: a century and a victory in his maiden Test in charge at The Oval, followed by a thumping 4-0 victory in the subsequent ODI series. His standing rose, too, with his handling of the Mumbai terror attacks, but while his tenure was never going to be dull, few expected it to be so short and dramatic. After criticising Moores following a tough tour of India, forcing the ECB to call an emergency meeting, he resigned from his post, leaving English cricket in crisis.
Cricinfo staff January 2009