Kevin Pietersen still up for team ownership in SA20

Former England cricketer Kevin Pietersen has admitted that he is still open to owning a franchise in the South African T20 league (SA20). Pietersen wanted to own a team in the ongoing league season but served the tournament as a commentator. He revealed that he couldn’t buy a team because he didn’t have enough purse for that. "Yes, I was one of the bidders," the former cricketer said. 

Pietersen further declared that he would be grabbing the opportunity if any of the franchises came to him with an offer of partnership. "It's a space that interests me. I don't know if that's a possibility. But it interests me yes," said Pieterson as a commentator for Sports 18 as quoted by Cricbuzz.

The former England cricketer seemed happy with the success of the SA20 league and gave it credit to the change in rules which, he thinks, makes the game interesting and entertain the audiences.

"The new rules are very, very good. The toss doesn't play too much of a role. I like the innovations. A bonus point is also a great idea. You can see bonus point has played a role here (in identifying the semifinalists). I mean, you want to change the rules to make it more entertaining for everybody. Why not? Keep progressing. Keep changing the game. Keep making it entertaining. And keep also the players on their toes," he advises the administrator.

A team gets a bonus point after the match when it wins the game with a 1.25 better run rate than the opponent team. Also, captains can nominate players after the toss and select the final XI later. No byes are given when the batter got bowled on a free hit and the ball ricochets off.

Pietersen also thinks that the fifty-over format will not relinquish despite being long and boring. He sees the ODI World Cup as a valuable item and regrets not winning one. "We can't say that cricket would be better off without ODIs because we're not there yet. We may see it in the future though the World Cup is such a valuable item. In my career I was able to win everything except for the 50 over World Cup. We won the Ashes, we beat India in India, we won the T20 World Cup. I never got the 50 over World Cup. So, it's one of those regrets," he added.

The England legend believes that ODI cricket is ailing because it's a very particular format and does not provide instant gratification like the T20Is. "Earlier, once we boarded a plane we would not know what was happening to a game. Now we're on an aeroplane and I'm speaking to people in three different planes in three different places talking about work. So that instant gratification is what is actually, I think, hurting the longer format of the games. I think it's hurting 50 over cricket in particular," England former cricketer added.

Pietersen credited the change in mindset for the England team’s success over the past few years. "I think it's a mindset. I think they've got a coach that is making sure that they're not scared of failing. They don't care about getting out; they go out and play,” said Kevin to the England team

Kevin also believes that India can play with the attacking approach and mindset but bat too slowly despite having competent players. He added that England and Australia have changed the way the shorter format was played and said that India can play with that approach in Tests too. 

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