37-year-old Kevin Pietersen who last represented England in January 2014 will be eligible to play for South Africa, the country of his birth from next year.
Before he had his contract terminated, he donned the English jersey in the 2013-14 Ashes series, where Australia defeated England 5-0.Pietersen is all set for his last summer in England as he will be playing for Surrey in the NatWest T-20 blast tournament.
While talking to a news portal, he said, “I’ll play [Twenty20 cricket] in South Africa for the next two years, I’ll play in Australia for the next two years, I’ll play in Pakistan for the next two years.” Pietersen has a two-year contract left with Australia’s Melbourne Stars in the Big Bash League and recently signed to play for South Africa’s T-20 Global League this year.
The issue with [playing in] England next year is I’m building a lodge in the Kruger National Park in Africa and the time I’ll be there with my family and doing stuff in Africa is over this period, so I won’t be in England next year,” he said.
However, when asked whether he will continue playing cricket, he quoted saying, “I’ll play for South Africa, It’s a possibility, whether it happens we will wait until 2019. All I am doing now is committing to the franchises. I don’t know, we will see.“ Kevin Pietersen gave the first hint on playing for South Africa after falling out with the England Cricket Board.
Kevin Pietersen left his home soil to play for England and scored 8,181 runs in 104 Test matches. With a healthy average of 40.73, he scored 4,440 runs in 136 one-day Internationals with 9 centuries. He also lead England in three test matches and 10 one-day Internationals.
