Published 20:05 IST, April 22nd 2020
Michael Vaughan reveals English stars teamed up against Kevin Pietersen when he played IPL
Former England skipper Michael Vaughan has revealed that several English players were against Kevin Pietersen when he played the cash-rich IPL back in 2009
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Former England skipper Michael Vaughan has revealed that several English players were against Kevin Pietersen when the explosive batsman bagged a whopping offer in the 2009 edition of the cash-rich Indian Premier League. Pietersen was bought by the Royal Challengers Bangalore for Rs 7.5 crores back then and was also made the captain of the team. Apart from Pietersen, Andrew Flintoff was the only English cricketer to play in that edition of the IPL.
'There was a lot of jealousy'
Speaking to a leading news daily recently, Vaughan revealed that there was a lot of 'jealousy' in the English team after Pietersen was bagged by RCB, adding that the players will probably deny it now but at that time Pietersen was on a 'massive contract.' The former England skipper also stated that there was faction opposing the idea of Kevin playing the IPL and also teamed up against him.
Vaughan named players like Graeme Swann, Tim Bresnan, James Anderson, Stuart Broad and Matt Prior in the faction that opposed Kevin Pietersen. He also stated that it was almost like 'Kevin against the team.' Furthermore, he revealed that Pietersen's intention to play in the IPL was to improve his white-ball game but the players thought that he was going to India only for the money.
English players preferred to not participate in the IPL until 2015 when Andrew Strauss became the director of cricket in England. Strauss encouraged players to participate in the IPL eventually bearing fruits for the English international side.
Pietersen's IPL stint
Pietersen was bought by RCB in 2009 for Rs 7.5 crores making him the joint-highest player of that edition. Pietersen succeeded Rahul Dravid as the captain but had to withdraw from the league halfway through to fulfil international commitments. He then played for Deccan Chargers and the Delhi Daredevils subsequently. The explosive batsman scored 1001 runs across 36 matches that he played in IPL and picked 7 wickets.
20:04 IST, April 22nd 2020