England’s Kevin Pietersen will end his professional cricket career after the Pakistan Super League’s third edition, which begins in Dubai on Thursday. Pietersen will represent Quetta Gladiators in the PSL.
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The iconic batsman posted a photo of him on Instagram, hugging his son before leaving to join the Gladiators in Dubai.
“Countless goodbyes to Jessica Taylor and my kids as a cricket player and this one this evening is the last one I’ll ever have to do. I’ve hated every goodbye but also known it’s work so just gotten on with it,” Pietersen said, hinting that the end is near.
“The journey has been absolutely amazing and for the next three/four weeks I’ll be a current professional and then it’s chapter closed! Had my time and loved it but the endless goodbyes and travel need to calm down now. Cricket has been the best!” he said.
The batsman has guided Quetta to the finals of the first two PSL but last year didn’t travel to Lahore last March for the title clash, citing security concerns by his family.
Quetta Gladiators owner Nadeem Omar has said that Pietersen had also expressed his unwillingness to travel to Pakistan for the two play-off matches and final in Lahore and Karachi next month.
“We are still trying to convince him that if our team makes the playoffs and the final we would love to see him carry on for us,” Omar said.
The batsman was sidelined by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) in 2012 and again in 2014 after differences with the team management.
Omar said Pietersen had played a big role in Quetta’s surge as a top team in the PSL.
The South African born cricketer has represented England in International cricket. He has 8181 test runs in 104 test matches and 4440 runs in 136 ODIs. The middle order batsman has also showed his stint in T20 cricket, scoring 1176* runs in 37* matches.
{PTI Inputs}
