KP led to his undoing too.
He loves the social media and is extremely attached to his smart phone but texting 'unceremonious' things about the captain of your side isn't very smart. Falling out with the coach was acceptable but ending every chapter of your autobiography with the choicest of words for Andy Flower wasn't in good taste either.
Big players are always susceptible to criticism but being a 'cry' baby about a parody twitter account was far below the class of a man with KP's talent.
Over the last decade, KP made his mistakes. This time he took the high road or at least tried to.
He refused the glitz of the Indian Premier League and chose the sobriety of the County Championships. He didn't score many but on the day that mattered, he piled on a massive unbeaten triple hundred.
Then again, for the ECB run-ins are more important than runs and understandably they couldn't trust someone like KP - definitely not with Andrew Strauss at the helm.
Strauss was a fantastic captain and a man of immense integrity. He handled the 'text-gate' with dignity. He did make a frivolous 'comment' during the MCC game but later apologised. He was the man who suffered the most because of KP but he also won the most as captain because of the hard-hitting right-hander.
England have always tip-toed around KP's aura but Strauss, being an outsider himself, should have had a better understanding of his fellow South African-born.
Kevin Pietersen was the ace up Strauss' sleeve while captaining. Starting on a new job, Strauss could have taken the house down by playing his big ace, yet again.
Instead, he played it safe and chose 'boring'.
He was handed the power to dominate English cricket and he used it to teach the 'problem child' a big lesson. It may not have pleased the fans and shocked the experts around the world but #StaussLogic is an instant trend within the ECB.
May be winning the Ashes as a captain did turn Strauss into an Englishman!
Now, with the red mo-hawked maverick put in his place, Strauss and the ECB can safely build a 'safe and boring' English team.
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