Hobart, March 14 (IANS) Exiled batsman Kevin Pietersen says he's considering a return to English county cricket this year in a bid to regain his place in England's Test and One-Day International (ODI) sides.
Pietersen was controversially sacked by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) last year and appeared destined to play out the rest of his career in Twenty20 leagues around the world, report cricket.com.au.
But a change of leadership at the ECB - Tom Harrison has replaced David Collier as CEO and Colin Graves will take over as chairman from Giles Clarke in May - has convinced Pietersen that his international career may not yet be over.
The 34-year-old says he's looking at the prospect of signing a county contract and ditching his lucrative deal with Sunrisers Hyderabad in the Indian Premier League (IPL) as it clashes with the English domestic season.
"That's what I'm looking at the moment. There will be a change of scenery at board level with the ECB and I've always expressed my desire to play for England again if I got the opportunity," Pietersen told Fox Sports ahead of his World Cup commentary debut during Australia's Pool A match against Scotland on Saturday.
"And it seems encouraging, but I've obviously got a few steps that I've got to climb. It just makes perfect sense to explore different things. That's what I'm doing at the moment."
A report in England's The Telegraph on Saturday said six counties have expressed an interest in signing Pietersen, but Surrey is "the most likely outcome".
The report said: "To have any chance of playing for England, Pietersen has to show his full commitment by pulling out of the IPL and agreeing to play all formats of the game in county cricket".
When asked about the article, the right-hander said: "There's nothing to add, whatever you've seen you've seen. I've still got more decisions to make.
"It's the weekend now so nobody will be picking up their phones, but Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday will be very exciting hopefully."
Pietersen on Saturday retweeted The Telegraph's story and changed his profile image to the back page of the paper trumpeting his return. The numbers #626 and #185 are Pietersen's Test and one-day international numbers.
Since his sacking by the ECB, Pietersen has plied his trade as a Twenty20 specialist in the KFC T20 Big Bash League, the IPL and the Caribbean Premier League. But he's repeatedly expressed his desire to return to the international arena.
"When you don't play any form of international cricket and you've had it for such a long time, (you want to play) anything, absolutely anything," he said.
"You miss it so much when you're not playing it. Obviously I've been lucky to come here and play in the Big Bash, play in the IPL, play in the Caribbean League.
"But Test cricket, one-day cricket, playing for your country is very special."
The fallout from Pietersen's sacking last year has been bitter. The former captain published a book in which he was scathing of several key players in English cricket, especially former coach Andy Flower and wicketkeeper Matt Prior.
He has also had a turbulent relationship with current coach Peter Moores, while ECB managing director Paul Downton was behind the push to sack him last year.
Pietersen hasn't played first class cricket since the fifth Ashes Test last January, but was one of the better performing players in the BBL this summer.
Pietersen has played 104 Tests for England, scoring 8181 runs with an average of 47.28. He has 23 centuries and 35 fifties. He also has represented the Three Lions in 136 ODIs, scoring 4440 runs.
The second wave of the Corona epidemic, why it wreaked so much havoc on India?
In early March this year, Health Minister Harsh Vardhan announced that the Covid-19 epidemic in India is now moving towards the 'end'.
Raveena Tandon: Kangana Ranaut came out in support of Raveena Tandon, called the incident of attack on the actress worrying
Raveena Tandon is in the headlines these days. A video of Raveena went viral on the previous day, June 2, in which some people were seen misbehaving with her. Some people beat up Raveena accusing her
5G smartphones will be available in India at a low price, this company is bringing cheap chipset
America's tech company MediaTek has brought a new 5G smartphone chipset. The chipset launched under the name of Dimension 700 5G has been made mainly for the Indian market. According to the company,
Salman's reply on 1000 crore fee: Bigg Boss host said - If I get so much money, then I will never work in life
Salman rubbished reports of getting a Rs 1000 crore fee for Bigg Boss 16. This season will start on 1st October. There were reports from August that they were charging Rs 1000 crore. Salman denied
PM Modi: PM Modi inaugurated the ITU Conference-Mobile Congress, more than 190 countries are participating
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday inaugurated the World Telecommunication Standardization Assembly (WTSA) organized by the United Nations International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in
Republic Day: IAF's flypast will be spectacular on Republic Day, Dornier 228 aircraft will fly with turbine and biofuel
Republic Day 2024: This time on the occasion of Republic Day, heritage aircraft Dakota has been included in the \'Tangel\' formation to be flown during the flypast. It will also have two Dornier
Autorickshaw Explodes: Mangaluru blast suspect identified, accused already booked under UAPA
A moving autorickshaw exploded in Karnataka's Mangaluru on Saturday, causing fire and heavy smoke. The auto driver and a passenger were injured in the accident. Police investigation revealed that the
Retail Inflation: India tops the 12 major countries in retail inflation, and aims to increase rates worldwide
India remains at the top of the world's top 12 countries amid the ever-increasing challenge on the inflation front. Retail inflation in India remained above 7 percent in June, while it was lower in 12
Four new oil and gas discoveries discovered in Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia's official news agency Saudi Press Agency (SPA) has reported that four new oil and gas fields have been discovered in Saudi Arabia.
Kangana Ranaut shares the secret of defeating Covid after refusing, trolls said - first show report
Bollywood actress Kangana Ranaut is in tremendous discussions on social media these days. Recently she has told that her corona test report has come negative ... Kangana had said something in the post
