Kevin Pietersen to play in South African domestic T20 league

Johannesburg: Former England cricket star Kevin Pietersen will play five matches for Durban team Dolphins in the South African Twenty20 tournament this year, it was announced on Tuesday. The South African-born batsman last played competitively two months ago in the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) and after his short South African stint, he will be involved in the Australian Big Bash T20 tournament. Pietersen, 35, began his senior cricket career with Dolphins and told a Johannesburg news conference he was relishing a return to his “roots”.

“I am really excited,” he said. “There is a lot of young talent at the Dolphins and some experienced guys, too. Coach Lance Klusener is somebody that I grew up watching and idolising so it will be nice to share a dressing-room with him.” After a successful but often controversial England career, outspoken Pietersen was dumped last year following an Ashes whitewash in Australia.

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The news comes after England’s director of cricket and former captain Andrew Strauss claimed that the exclusion of maverick cricketer Pietersen has helped the national cricket team. Pietersen was unceremoniously dropped from the England cricket team more than two years ago after their horrendous tour to Australia for the Ashes 2013-14. The right-handed batsman, who was one of the key members of the England cricket team that was world No. 1 for a brief period of time has been cast away from international cricket, due to reasons that are not clearly determined. However, Strauss, who told Pietersen before the start of the English summer that he has no immediate future with the England cricket team, believes that it was the right call.