Kevin Pietersen to End Cricket Career After Pakistan Super League

The dashing batsman posted a photo of him on Instagram, hugging his son before leaving to join the Gladiators in Dubai.

New Delhi: England’s swashbuckling batsman Kevin Pietersen has decided to end his professional cricket career after the Pakistan Super League’s third edition, which begins in Dubai on Thursday. Pietersen will represent Quetta Gladiators in the PSL.

The dashing batsman posted a photo of him on Instagram, hugging his son before leaving to join the Gladiators in Dubai.

Countless goodbyes to @jessicalibertyx & my kids as a cricket player & this one this evening is the last one I’ll ever have to do. I’ve hated every goodbye but also known it’s work so just gotten on with it. The journey has been absolutely amazing & for the next 3/4 weeks I’ll be a current professional & then it’s chapter closed! Had my time & loved it but the endless goodbyes & travel needs to calm down now. Cricket has been the best!

A post shared by Kevin Pietersen (@kp24) on Feb 19, 2018 at 1:33pm PST

“Countless goodbyes to Jessica Taylor and my kids as a cricket player and this one this evening is the last one I’ll ever have to do. I’ve hated every goodbye but also known it’s work so just gotten on with it,” Pietersen said, hinting that the end is near.

“The journey has been absolutely amazing and for the next three/four weeks I’ll be a current professional and then it’s chapter closed! Had my time and loved it but the endless goodbyes and travel need to calm down now.”

“Cricket has been the best!” he said.

The batsman has guided Quetta to the finals of the first two PSL but last year didn’t travel to Lahore last March for the title clash, citing security concerns by his family.

Quetta Gladiators owner Nadeem Omar has said that Pietersen had also expressed his unwillingness to travel to Pakistan for the two play-off matches and final in Lahore and Karachi next month.

“We are still trying to convince him that if our team makes the playoffs and the final we would love to see him carry on for us,” Omar said.

The batsman was sidelined by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) in 2012 and again in 2014 after differences with the team management.

Omar said Pietersen had played a big role in Quetta’s surge as a top team in the PSL. (With PTI inputs)