I’ve got my bug back: Pietersen

England batsman is fully prepared for the Sri Lanka series.

CARDIFF:

Kevin Pietersen insisted he was fully prepared for England’s home series against Sri Lanka that starts May 26, saying ‘the bug is back’.

Pietersen’s commitment was questioned following an early exit from England’s World Cup campaign with a hernia injury, for which the South Africa-born batsman has since had an operation.

And after his relatively lean start to the domestic season with Surrey, the likes of England captain Andrew Strauss found themselves having to answer the question of whether he would ‘dare’ tell Pietersen that he had been dropped for the important series that lay ahead.

But given that he is still averaging over 48 in Test cricket, there never seemed much chance of Pietersen being left out for the first of a three-Test series against Sri Lanka starting on Thursday.

“The bug is back,” Pietersen told reporters. “At the end of last summer I went away to South Africa and did some work with [coach] Graham Ford because I knew I needed to get back on the wagon and get the bug back and I got it back.

“It’s not a case of putting pressure on myself and saying I need to get runs. I know for a fact that I will get runs when I feel the way I’m feeling at the moment.”

England coach Andy Flower suggested during the World Cup that Pietersen could have played through the pain barrier. However, Pietersen insisted he had no choice but to leave England’s squad when he could not function normally due to his condition.

“If people could feel the pain I was in they’d understand it. The World Cup comes around after every four years and the Indian Premier League was scheduled to kick off straight after it - why would I want to come home when I was missing out on all that amazing cricket?”

Thursday’s match will be England’s first Test since they secured a 3-1 Ashes win in Australia in January.  Pietersen scored a Test-best 227 in Adelaide in the second Test.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 25^th, 2011.