Forlorn Kevin Pietersen looks a shadow of his usual self

As the Indian Premier League (IPL) reaches it’s business-end, one team which is certainly waiting for the agony to get over must be Delhi Daredevils. The prospect of having to finish at the bottom of the heap for the second year in a row can be quite a sinking feeling — and here one must admit to feeling sorry for Kevin Pietersen.

It was only in February when ‘KP’, having just been dumped by the England think tank after a 5-0 Ashes drubbing in Australia, was wooed again by the Delhi team with a right-to-match card in the auction. Quite expectedly, he was named the captain of an overhauled and a decent outfit on paper — and the stage was set for the second coming of one of the rare larger-than-life cricketers of this generation.

The run-in with a stiff-upper-lip establishment had left a sense of hurt in him, prompting him to say that he often had a feeling of being “admired” more in India. The expectation levels of him as the IPL was kicking off in the UAE were huge, with one bumping into a handful of cricket writers making the trip here from the UK — ostensibly just to track KP.

A month on, the six feet-plus lithe figure — whose swagger was so much a part of his cricketing personality all along — looks like a mere shadow of himself. He is an unsure man at the crease these days, having accumulated a pathetic 130 from 10 matches (before Thursday’s game) and the buzz doing the rounds is that he had never fully recovered from the freak finger injury sustained on the eve of the IPL in England.

The redeeming feature under the circumstances could have been the team’s performance, but both luck and consistency continued to desert the Daredevils at crucial moments during their campaign. There have been at least three to four matches when the roll of the dice could have gone either way, but KP’s team continued to be at the receiving end.

One does not remember his style of leadership with England but, with the Daredevils, he has been more of the condoning big brother rather than a decisive leader. Despite his wretched personal form, KP always has time to put his arms around the shoulder of his strike bowler who may have gone for an awful lot of runs while he is as protective about his ‘boys’ when facing probing questions of the TV pundits.

The smile, of course, looks wan now for he knows that the battle is over — at least for this season. Reflecting after yet another loss, KP admitted on Tuesday night that it was time to plan ahead for next year, but then one year can be a long time in the franchise-driven world of IPL.

Making the IPL play-offs or a few 50s is no benchmark for a classy performer like KP, but his sense of pride will surely make him desperate to make a statement in the remaining matches. We will wait and watch to see if the tide turns, albeit it’s a little late in the day!