IPL 2025: True batters stand out on tricky pitches says Kevin Pietersen

New Delhi: Kevin Pietersen has always been a maverick, one who was perceived as going against the conventional ways of batting. Perhaps that streak led to him becoming the first player to play the switch-hit. Yet, he advocates buiding a strong foundation even as batters redefine stroke-making in T20 cricket.
“I think a lot of these players are not going to play Test cricket,” Pietersen said when asked if unconventional shots in T20s are going to become the norm across formats. “I look at it and I just think, like, this is just crazy. Some of the shots that you see, and how quickly these guys play the shots.

It looks like utter madness.” Pietersen explained what separates the best batters from the pure T20 hitters. “On wickets like we’re playing on this evening (Kotla pitch used for DC-RCB game on Sunday), you can’t play that way and you’ve got to be methodical, you’ve got to find rhythm like Virat and KL did today,” he said.
“That’s where you see the true batter who can come out there and sort of monitor the situation. It looks effortless because they’ve built a technique for 20-30 years, whereas on absolute belters the next generation can come in and do all sorts of things.” T20 cricket is often perceived as a format which can be entertaining only through obscenely high scores.

That’s what Pietersen believes should change. “Is it good for T20 cricket to have the occasional pitch like this (where shot-making becomes tougher)? I don’t think it’s a bad thing. Is it good to see the bowlers just bowling and just being served up into the stands every single ball like what happened a bit last year and how it started this year? “I don’t think every night people want to see (just) that. The question is if you want to see that every night, or just see a tight contest,” he said.