Bangladesh isn’t somewhere I'd like to be for the next six weeks: Kevin Pietersen

Kevin Pietersen last stood on the cricket field for England against Australia back in 2014 and has been in exile since then but that hasn’t kept him completely off the cricketing action since the 36-year old continues to feature in premier domestic Twenty20 leagues around the world. He has also used various platforms to express his views on the happenings around international cricket. Now that the English team is scheduled to tour Bangladesh, the tour which was under security threat has been cleared but Pietersen said he isn’t sure he would have toured Bangladesh in the present scenario.

The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) sent a 3-member team to assess the security situation in the country after the tour was under threat following terror strikes in the capital Dhaka. The panel was satisfied with the security arrangements and is a positive sign for the tour. KP while talking to ESPNcricinfo said, “It’s not somewhere I’d like to be for the next six weeks,”

“The young ODI side might not have too many issues, but the older Test side might have a few issues. Some of the older guys might have kids and other responsibilities, and might think ‘How can I get out of going to Bangladesh?’ They may think of this as an opportunity to get out of a Bangladesh tour. They’ll be looking at it. I know a lot of journalists don’t want to go to Bangladesh. So it’s going to be tough.”

He also added that it would have been one of the toughest decisions to make for skipper Alastair Cook to make. “This is going to be one of the hardest decisions Alastair Cook has to make. Would I want to go? No. But I don’t think one guy can pull out. If one goes, you’ve all got to go. It would be difficult to pull out of the tour,” Pietersen said.

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He was in the decision making position 8 years ago on the tour to India. Mumbai was hit by one of the worst terrorist attacks and the English team flew back home mid-way through the tour back in 2008. But after considering all options he led the Test team in the subsequent series to complete the tour as scheduled. But he feels that now that he has a family back home and his two children he would have definitely thought about it with a different perspective.

“I didn’t understand the circumstances of the guys who had kids at that time. I didn’t understand it at all. That’s why I’ve said I wasn’t the right person to captain England at the time,” Pietersen said, referring to how the episode affected his friendship with the likes of Andrew Flintoff and Steve Harmison.

“I think it damaged a lot of relationships for me with the side and senior players. I wish I wasn’t the captain of England at that time. I did it before I had kids. It makes a huge difference. Your responsibilities change. Your priorities change. It would have been a harder decision,” he added.

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