How much will the axing of Kevin Pietersen affect England?

There’s still a fair amount of frenzy to this whole saga on Kevin Pietersen being sacked by the ECB, albeit we are baffled on whether the cricketer’s antics during the Ashes series in Australia deserved such a humongous decision. Kevin Pietersen has been a conspicuous figure for everything he has done on and off the cricket pitch, and has always had a touch of arrogance to his actions.

He invented the switch-hit, which in itself stirred a lot of debate, had an uneasy confrontation with England’s coach at that time, Peter Moores, during England’s tour of India in 2008, and if that wasn’t enough, he went a step further and text messaged his South African counterparts on how to bowl to England’s then captain, Andrew Strauss in 2012.

So, Kevin Pietersen’s career as a cricketer for England has been tumultuous and full of turbulence. And now that we’ve been told by the ECB that the 9-year career of Kevin Pietersen as an English cricketer has been terminated, it’s intriguing to analyse whether England will miss him going forward.

Kevin Pietersen might not have played many a rearguard innings in his role as a no.4 batsman for England, but what he rendered at no.4 for England was his ability to play the role of an aggressor to perfection, and thereby comfort the batsmen around him. Mind you, England’s top 3 batsmen were in a style of their own, and they hardly ever could match up to the brute force and pugnaciousness that KP was always known for.

So, if there’s a smidgen component that England might miss in the absence of Pietersen, it will be his ability to take the opponent’s bowlers head-on and change the course of the game very quickly.

I have always been a firm believer that a cricket match can be won single-handedly by individual brilliance, but in the case of a team losing a game of cricket, it’s not so much because of an individual’s failure alone. So, when you take that factor into account, Kevin Pietersen’s absence will not/should not hamper England’s results in the longer run.

Also, a quality side like England, which boasts of Cook, Bell, James Anderson, Stuart Broad and Matt Prior shouldn’t be let down by this axing of one of their country’s most celebrated cricketers, but should act as a motivation to better their game.

Kevin Pietersen’s axing is synonymous of Tendulkar’s retirement from international cricket, and when India toured South Africa late last year, Tendulkar’s absence wasn’t quite felt as much as it was anticipated.

So, if you take the aforementioned factors into account, it’s hard to see England missing Pietersen, and consequently losing their plot in the ICC’s Test championship. Considering the revamp that the English ODI side has undergone in the last couple of years, I think KP’s axing is immaterial to England’s one-day setup.