Given what happened in Cape Town, India won't be shy in preparing something that spins: Kevin Pietersen

Former England skipper Kevin Pietersen is confident that India will prepare spin-friendly tracks in the upcoming five-match series, starting on January 25 in Hyderabad. Speaking about it, he recalled the infamous Cape Town saga, in which, India defeated South Africa in less than five sessions, recording it as the shortest-ever Test match by balls. After the match, skipper Rohit Sharma issued a statement saying that his team won’t complain about the pitch and expects other teams to remain shut as well when they visit the sub-continent.

Meanwhile, Pietersen also raised his concerns regarding England’s spin options. Jack Leach, with experience of 35 Test matches is the senior-most spinner in the squad, while Rehan Ahmed has played just one match. On the other hand, Shoaib Bashir and Tom Hartley are yet to make their debut for the national team. 

“The question is, can England deliver with the spinners they have? That's going to be what dictates the series. It's gonna spin. I actually played in Vizag (Visakhapatnam) the other day. It spun and bounced in a T20 game! Given what happened in Cape Town the other week, they won't be shy in preparing something that spins, and they will say, 'Let's see what you've got,” Pietersen wrote in the column for The Times.

If you don’t have a defence, you can’t bat: Pietersen

In the era of Bazball, Kevin Pietersen opened up on the art of defending a ball. He believes that the cricketers need to spend time just defending in the nets as it would give them the confidence to attack later on. He assured that defending is not negative as it can help the cricketers settle down sooner.

“If you don’t have a defence, you can’t bat, it’s pretty simple. Getting runs is just going to be a fluke without a defence. I’d spend time in the nets just defending; it’s actually not negative to defend. The ability to defend gives you the confidence to be able to attack. Defend; play straight lines, don’t plant your front foot; wait for the ball; don’t play just with your hands. If you can do that and you have the wherewithal to be able to commit to a solid defence and trust it, then it allows you to loosen up,” the 43-year-old said.