He was selected at No.5 in both the 2007 and 2008 ICC Test Teams of the Year, and made the ODI Team of the Year in 2005, 2007 and 2009.
In March 2007, he became just the third England batter to top the ICC One Day International rankings when he reached the summit in March 2007.
A champion player in a T20 World Cup champion team
As the game catered to fit three international formats into the calendar, Pietersen’s skillset proved a point of difference for England.
With his power underpinned by a high grip and leverage through his shots, his aptitude in manipulating opposition fields through sweeps and the innovation of the switch hit made him an asset, particularly in situations demanding quick scoring.
Maintaining his power even after essentially turning into a left-hander, some had even questioned the legality of his batting, not that Pietersen cared too much.
As he continued to perform in red-ball cricket, making five Test hundreds in 2008, his consistency in the new T20I format took England to glory.
Attention turned to the 2010 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup in the West Indies, where his back-to-back half-centuries against Pakistan and South Africa in Barbados propelled his side to the top of their Super 8s group.
