It’s been an eventful day for ‘freelance cricketer’ Kevin Pietersen. First he got charged with misconduct for his comments during a Big Bash game and now, he’s announced his decision to not play the Indian Premier League this season.
In a tweet, the former England international cited a ‘busy’ calendar for choosing to stay home this summer.
Kevin Pietersen was part of the Rising Pune Supergiants squad in IPL 9 but a calf injury sustained during a match ruled him out of the tournament. In his four innings, he had managed to score just 73 runs at an average of 36.50 and strike rate of 119.67.
Pietersen though was going to be up for auction for the 2017 season after the MS Dhoni-led team chose to offload him and a handful of stars by the December 18 team retention deadline.
Big Bash Troubles
On Friday, Pietersen was also charged with misconduct for his on-air comments criticising an umpiring decision while playing for the Melbourne Stars during a Big Bash League semi-final.
He was wearing an on-field microphone when he slammed the umpire's decision to turn down a caught behind appeal against Perth Scorchers batsman Sam Whiteman in the Jan. 24 Twenty20 tournament match.
"That was a shocker, an absolute shocker," Pietersen was heard saying while fielding during the Scorchers' run chase.
Match Referee David Talalla proposed a fine of A$5,000 ($3,824) for Pietersen after going through the umpires' report.
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