JAMMU, Nov 29:
Former England cricket captain Kevin Pietersen who is here in Jammu for the Legends League is not impressed by the refurbished Maulana Azad Stadium and considers the wicket not good enough for the shortest format of the game.
“The wicket is not good for T20 cricket,” he told reporters on the sidelines of a practice session today.
“It (Jammu) is amazing. I have been travelling a lot in India for the last 20 years and this is my first time in Jammu, looking forward to playing a game (today) and tomorrow night as well,” Pietersen said ahead of match 2.
“We were being looked after very nicely. The hospitality is as always nowhere seen in the world and the hospitality is magnificent. We had a lovely time,” he said, adding, though he was quite busy with all his work, he freed some time to play golf at the Jammu Tawi golf course on Tuesday.
The former batter seemed a bit downcast by the low-scoring game on Monday and said that the people want to see competitive cricket and see the ex-professionals actually competing.
“The wicket (in the M A Stadium) is not good for T20 cricket. You want to see more runs than see the balls rolling along the ground. Let us see if the wicket is better (for the next match) that will be good. For the teams to finish the game in the 20th over as a few (matches) had gone, it is great for the competition,” he said.
Pietersen called his own country’s performance in the World Cup “terrible” and said no one thought it would not reach the final.
He said the Legends League has a very “serious momentum.”
“I think there is an opportunity for this league to grow for players to retire a little bit earlier if they finish with IPL and franchise cricket around the world and they do not get the extra contract.
“I think players will be having a look at this league because it is competitive, it is run well and logistically fantastic. So with the competition on offer and the opportunity to play at the highest level, I think that it has got a serious momentum to do well,” he said. (PTI)
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