Kevin Pietersen has unleashed a fierce attack on the England cricket team for preferring golf to practice sessions on their catastrophic white-ball tour of India. England experienced a humiliating series defeat, losing seven out of eight games, with a 1-4 defeat in the T20Is and a 3-0 whitewash in the ODIs. Pietersen, whose candid views were well known, would not brook any explanation for England’s lack of practice, criticizing the team for lacking sufficient effort in trying to compete with India.
In his most recent X post, Pietersen shared that a British journalist had emailed him an article justifying England’s absence from training due to “injuries” and the “rapid turnaround” between matches. But the ex-England batter was not having any of it. Just received an article where one of the top UK journalists has stated that Shastri & I were wrong last night to say England didn’t train,” he said. “Reason – injuries and rapid turnaround between matches…!” he said, wondering in disbelief.
Pietersen had no such reservations, launching into a ranting tirade, accusing the journalist of making excuses. “Do me a f*****g favour! Stop writing about cricket if you’re going to write such rubbish. Injuries are part of sport, and this schedule is like every bilateral series almost ever played. Injuries are NOT stopping batters from batting against net bowlers and learning the art of playing spin. And that’s where they should have been to IMPROVE! “
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He then pointed to his own battles with spin at the start of his career, attributing long practice sessions to breaking him free of the hurdle. “Trust me on this one, as it saved my career against spin! It seems the journos are in cahoots with what we’re trying to be brainwashed into believing! You won’t fool the fans with such nonsense!”
Just got sent an article where a leading UK journo has said that Shastri & I got it wrong last night when discussing England not training.
Reason – injuries and quick turnaround between games…! 🤣🤣🤣🤣
Do me a f*****g favour! Stop writing about cricket if you’re going to write…— Kevin Pietersen🦏 (@KP24) February 13, 2025
Pietersen’s criticism aligned with Ravi Shastri’s comments during the third ODI in Ahmedabad, where the former India coach claimed that England had “just one net session this entire trip, if not any.” Ravi Shastri suggested that England’s failure to work hard in the nets was evident in their performances, as they struggled against India’s spinners throughout the tour.
Pietersen seconded Shastri’s incredulity at England having not conducted a single team practice session since losing the first ODI and the T20I series.
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“Sorry, but I am absolutely gobsmacked that England did not have ONE team practice session since losing the 1st ODI and losing the T20 series. How can this be? Seriously, how? I think Joe Root was the only player to have a net this series, after Nagpur,” he tweeted. But England skipper Jos Buttler was quick to rubbish such allegations, standing up for his team’s training schedule. “I’m not sure that’s quite true, to be honest. We had a fairly lengthy tour, a couple of long travelling days. There’s been a couple of occasions we haven’t trained, but we’ve definitely done a lot of training during the tour,” Buttler said.
In spite of Buttler’s defense, England’s dismal performances and lack of grit have raised serious questions. With criticism from former greats like Pietersen and Shastri increasing, England’s preparation strategy will probably come under even more scrutiny in the future.
