Kevin Pietersen might just be the most naturally gifted batsmen of his generation. Forget formats of cricket for a second, when Pietersen is on song, few can touch him.
In 2005 when England won the Ashes, it was Pietersen's aggression against a bowling attack containing McGrath, Warne, Lee and Gillespie that set the tone for England's victory. Pietersen inspired his side, showing others they could take on the legendary Aussie attack and prevail, something few players across the world had been able to do up until that point.
Pietersen has been integral to England ever since, playing his part in England's Ashes victory in Australia in 2011 and was Man of the Series en route to England winning the T20 World Cup in 2010, their first limited overs trophy ever.
But with Pietersen retiring from limited overs cricket last week, reaction to the news has been quite similar to people's opinion of the man himself; mixed
Some have said that KP has been selfish to leave his country without the services of the best T20 batsman in the world, in the lead up to the World Cup later this year. Others have suggested that the ECB's reluctance to meet the player half way, allowing Pietersen to remain in the T20 squad whilst defecting from One Day Internationals - as was the players request - has ended up being a firm but ultimately counter-productive stance.
It's unreasonable to assert that England will be better off without Pietersen. KP is world class and in T20 in particular is the fulcrum that the England side is built around. Not only that, but with just 3 months to go until the World Cup in Sri Lanka begins, England have next to no time to introduce a new match winner and bed them in with any degree of success.
There are options, with James Taylor, Michael Carberry and Jos Buttler all players to consider for the vacancies on offer, but with Pietersen now on a collision course with the ECB it's not inconceivable to further suggest that the central contract that Pietersen has in place with his employers at present, due to expire in September, may be his last.
A future without Pietersen was always going to come at some point, heck retirement comes to us all at some stage, but when the player in question is the best of his generation, surely all parties concerned would fight tooth and nail to ensure that moment is as far off in the future as possible, no?
Must just be me then.
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