Pietersen's Ego Returns

Yesterday was a very good day for England. But it was also a very good day for Kevin Pietersen. He started the day on 85 not out and it would've taken a brave man to bet against him getting to his first Test ton in 21 months. Sure enough, Pietersen got there. He showed how much it meant to him with a leap and a broad grin spread all over his face.

However he was not satisfied yet. He wanted more. His innings resembled the Pietersen of old, the Pietersen that thrashed Australia all around the Oval in 2005. In recent series he has looked unsure of himself, the bat coming down at all sorts of strange angles. The key to Pietersen's batting is his ego. He needs to believe that he will dominate the bowlers every time he walks to the crease. He has not believed this recently.

Pietersen's innings of 158 at the Oval in 2005 demonstrates this perfectly. Despite surviving a flurry of chances early on in his innings, he continued to play aggressively. The enduring image of that innings was the way he continued to hook and pull Brett Lee for six, despite the fact that there were two boundary riders. It takes someone with complete confidence in his game to continue to take that shot on and succeed. This kind of batting has not been seen from Pietersen in the last couple of years. He had seemed to have mellowed down in his approach to batting. Maybe it was because he was maturing, maybe it was because he realised he was the linch-pin of the batting order. Whatever it was, it did not suit him. Pietersen is at his best when he is dominating the bowling. There are not many bowlers in world cricket who can bowl to him when he is going well, let alone the hapless Australian bowlers.

This innings was classic Pietersen. He scored at a strike rate of 73 (quick by anybody's standards, except maybe Virender Sehwag). All the classic Pietersen strokes were there. The one legged flick through mid-wicket, the crunching drive through the off-side and the fearless pull shot (a shot which brought him 3 successive fours when Peter Siddle tried in vain to bounce him out).

I will admit I was one of many who had doubts over Pietersen coming into this series, especially when Doherty was selected. I am very happy to see that Pietersen has proved me emphatically wrong. I really should have seen it coming. Pietersen loves a big stage and there are no bigger than an Ashes series down under. Remember the 2006-07 tour (I know you probably don't want to), Pietersen scored 400 runs in the first 3 games. He only scored 90 in the two games when the series was dead. He is a big game player, it fuels his ego.

As far as I'm concerned, I hope his ego continues to grow so large that he truly believes he is the equal of Sir Don. If he believes this, then the extents to what he could achieve are limitless.