Shane Warne lauds ‘match-winner’ Pietersen
Aussie great praises English cricketer ahead of Lord’s bicentenary match .
LONDON:
Shane Warne believes Kevin Pietersen will seize the chance to shine when they line up in a star-studded Rest of the World side in the Lord’s bicentenary match on Saturday.
Warne, widely regarded as cricket’s greatest leg-spinner, will captain former Hampshire colleague Pietersen against an equally star-studded MCC team led by India’s hero Sachin Tendulkar.
Pietersen was controversially axed by England following the team’s 5-0 Ashes series loss in Australia even though he is England’s all-time leading run-scorer.
South Africa-born Pietersen, a former England captain, hasn’t given up on an international recall although the present hierarchy, including Test skipper Alastair Cook, are adamantly opposed to his return to the team.
Warne, who championed Pietersen’s case ahead of his Test debut in 2005, only to be on the receiving end of the strokemaker’s blistering Ashes-clinching 158 at The Oval that year, was in no doubt of his quality.
“Pietersen is an absolute match-winner,” Warne told a Lord’s news conference on Friday.
“He is a superstar and a wonderful player. He is fantastic to watch, I’m sure he will turn it on Saturday and smash it all over the park. He has played well over the years at Lord’s in his time with England and hopefully, he can do that on Saturday.”
Meanwhile, Tendulkar, who only retired in November, insisted he hadn’t missed cricket too much.
“I have enjoyed my time with the family, I started practicing 10 days ago and it’s nice to be back in the gear and hitting a few balls — I’m still trying to find the centre of the bat,” said Tendulkar, cricket’s all-time leading Test and one-day international run-scorer.
“I have been watching but I haven’t been feeling like getting in the net.”
With Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), having moved to its present Lord’s site in the north-west London suburb of St John’s Wood in 1814, Saturday’s match celebrates the 200th anniversary of the ‘home of cricket’.
Tendulkar’s side will include the likes of fellow India batting great Rahul Dravid, West Indies star Brian Lara and Australia’s Brett Lee, with Warne’s Rest of the World team including Adam Gilchrist, Muttiah Muralitharan and Shahid Afridi.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 5th, 2014.
Shane Warne believes Kevin Pietersen will seize the chance to shine when they line up in a star-studded Rest of the World side in the Lord’s bicentenary match on Saturday.
Warne, widely regarded as cricket’s greatest leg-spinner, will captain former Hampshire colleague Pietersen against an equally star-studded MCC team led by India’s hero Sachin Tendulkar.
Pietersen was controversially axed by England following the team’s 5-0 Ashes series loss in Australia even though he is England’s all-time leading run-scorer.
South Africa-born Pietersen, a former England captain, hasn’t given up on an international recall although the present hierarchy, including Test skipper Alastair Cook, are adamantly opposed to his return to the team.
Warne, who championed Pietersen’s case ahead of his Test debut in 2005, only to be on the receiving end of the strokemaker’s blistering Ashes-clinching 158 at The Oval that year, was in no doubt of his quality.
“Pietersen is an absolute match-winner,” Warne told a Lord’s news conference on Friday.
“He is a superstar and a wonderful player. He is fantastic to watch, I’m sure he will turn it on Saturday and smash it all over the park. He has played well over the years at Lord’s in his time with England and hopefully, he can do that on Saturday.”
Meanwhile, Tendulkar, who only retired in November, insisted he hadn’t missed cricket too much.
“I have enjoyed my time with the family, I started practicing 10 days ago and it’s nice to be back in the gear and hitting a few balls — I’m still trying to find the centre of the bat,” said Tendulkar, cricket’s all-time leading Test and one-day international run-scorer.
“I have been watching but I haven’t been feeling like getting in the net.”
With Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), having moved to its present Lord’s site in the north-west London suburb of St John’s Wood in 1814, Saturday’s match celebrates the 200th anniversary of the ‘home of cricket’.
Tendulkar’s side will include the likes of fellow India batting great Rahul Dravid, West Indies star Brian Lara and Australia’s Brett Lee, with Warne’s Rest of the World team including Adam Gilchrist, Muttiah Muralitharan and Shahid Afridi.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 5th, 2014.