You are here:

People in the UK are jealous of the IPL: Pietersen

Kevin Pietersen is the only English international along with Eoin Morgan to play in this year's IPL, and the batsman told the Hindustan Times that he thought it was down to jealousy.

"The IPL is struggling to find acceptance in the UK. There is a lot of jealousy happening back there, and that saddens me," he said.

Recently ex-England captain Alec Stewart told the BBC that it would be better if  Pietersen brought back some knowledge about playing in the sub-continent from the IPL.

Pietersen has made a good start to his 2012 IPL campaign. AFP

But even after five years, the IPL has not received a stronger backing from England's cricket enthusiasts.

Pietersen believes that it would actually help if more English players participated in the league: "It would have benefited the England team because they'll be touring India soon, and seven-eight top players playing here would have been good," he told HT.

Pietersen's switch-hit shot has become very popular and the batsman used it in the IPL against Ravichandran Ashwin as the Delhi Daredevils won against the Chennai Super Kings. In spite of all the attention, he does not understand the fuss behind it.

"There are not many players in world cricket who play that shot. So, let guys play if they want to, why want to change some rules. It's great for the game eventually."

KP was vital in that victory over the defending champions, but still feels that it will be the local players who will eventually make the difference.

"The foreign players can win you few matches. But you are really successful if your Indian players are doing well,"  Delhi's top scorer told the paper.

Read the full Hindustan Times story here.