Kevin Pietersen says he is a "completely different person" having returned to the England cricket set-up following his infamous fallouts during his storied playing career with the team. Pietersen represented England 277 times across all formats during his playing days, but was sacked in 2014 and has since been disconnected from the side for more than a decade after the ECB accused him of failing to support captain Sir Alastair Cook following the 5-0 Ashes defeat in Australia. He was also dropped in 2012 after sending texts to the South African team, and since retiring has been a vocal critic of England, accusing the white-ball team of poor preparation ahead of last January's tour of India.
Having recently returned to the England set up as a specialist on the white-ball coaching staff, Pietersen is keen to offer his talents and experience to the current crop of England stars. Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player "I'm 46, man. That stuff's so long gone.
I'm a completely different person too," he said. "I've been lucky to have worn every t-shirt an England cricketer can wear; the good, the bad, and the ugly. There are parts to all of their careers, which I think that I could potentially help them to stay away from the ugly.
"I'm in the two ears, one mouth phase. I listen twice as much as I talk. I've seen a lot, I've done a lot, and I want to be the best guy in the room for these guys, "(White ball head coach McCullum) loves being challenged on different opinions.
Whether he uses it or not, that's up to him. I'm not sitting here wanting to be the coach of England. He's the coach of England.
If I can help him, in his journey, in his pursuit, in our pursuit, to be competitive next year then it's a win." Pietersen joined the coaching staff ahead of the ongoing series against Sri Lanka and will serve as a specialist mentor through to the 2027 Cricket World Cup in Africa. Recalling his first conversation with McCullum, he said: "I thought I was in trouble," he said of his first conversation with Brendon McCullum. Why is he calling me?' "We talked about how critical I had been of the setup.
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