Cricket
Joe Root backs Kevin Pietersen to bring honesty and energy to England role
Joe Root wants Kevin Pietersen to remain as forthright as ever when his former England team-mate joins the white-ball coaching staff.
Root is the last remaining link from the England outfit that was whitewashed in the 2013-14 Ashes, after which Pietersen was exiled and effectively sacked following a spectacular and long-lasting fallout with the hierarchy.
Pietersen, though, is set for a surprise return to England’s ODI and T20 ranks as a batting mentor in the lead-up to next year’s 50-over World Cup in his native South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia.
He was critical about England’s approach to training during their limited-overs tour of India in 2025, but Root sees the upsides of Pietersen’s reputation for being one of the most outspoken figures in the game.
“I think it’ll be fine,” Test captain Root said. “You want people to give their honest opinion, why would you get him involved if you didn’t want him to tell you what he thinks and to give his insight into the game?
“The world is a very different place to what it was in 2014, and the England team is in a very different place to that as well. The group of players are very fortunate to get the chance to tap into his knowledge and experience.
“He’s got a very good understanding of batting, in particular, and he’s got a huge amount of energy. I think he’ll be great for the group and I’m really looking forward to working with him.”
Pietersen has spent much of his post-playing career as a broadcaster and building his YouTube brand, but he is one of England’s finest ever batters, named player of the tournament in their 2010 T20 World Cup triumph.
Root, whose batting partner when he first walked out to bat for England was Pietersen in India in December 2012, admitted rubbing shoulders when he was a youngster with the now 46-year-old was a gratifying experience.
“I learnt a huge amount from him,” the 35-year-old added. “He was someone I’d be shadowing all the time. That first tour of India, in particular, I would try and buddy up with him in the nets.
“He was really open, really honest, very helpful in terms of how to get the best out of my game against spin.
“If he can offer that kind of stuff in a coaching capacity as he did as a senior player, then I think it’s really going to benefit us as a group.”
Michael Vaughan applauded the decision for England to bring Pietersen on board but questioned whether the coaching team, led by Brendon McCullum, could overshadow the playing group.
Vaughan, who captained Pietersen at the beginning of his England career, told The Overlap’s Stick to Cricket podcast: “I like it but it has a bit of a concern to me, that suddenly the management becomes more profiled than the players.
“McCullum is a big front, we know he’s under pressure because of what happened with (losing) the Test job, and you’ve got Pietersen who is a big, big name, one of the biggest names in world cricket. They are huge.
“If you lose one or two games, the fingers will be on the profiled element of the coaching. It’s probably the most high-profile coaching team in the world.
“It can be a good thing but, if you look around the rest of the world, most other teams are going (a different way).
“Other teams are going a bit more low key – coaches, coaches, coaches – England have gone down the mentor route. They’re going to need some good coaches in there as well.”
