Nuts To Go For KP?
So its time for a change it seems. Having been hounded by the press for months both Michael Vaughan and Paul Collingwood have both resigned their England captaincies, the latter despite an gutsy 134 knock to give England a chance of victory. The fact that they ultimately lost against South Africa on Saturday and therefore handed the Proteas their first victory since 1965 on English soil, is down to a lack lustre bowling attack, couple with a mixture of bad luck and failure to take chances.
Graeme Smith went of to score 150 odd to lead his side to victory, but could have been given LBW (although it was easy to see why it wasn’t given), should have been run out if Ambrose/Bell hadn’t cocked it up between them, and was caught off the glove, but inexplicably the players around the bat and Panesar, who had appealed for absolutely everything up until then, failed to do so on the one occasion it was clear cut. The net result was SA were able to chase down 280 and force the resignations of Colly and MV.
Enter KP. Scurge of purists and the establishment, controversial with the coaching staff and apparently the dressing room as well. KP splits people - they love him or hate him. Averaging over 50 he is by far Englands best batsman, scoring in a manner which excites and thrills the spectators, and has the establishment cronies turning in their graves - even those that aren’t yet dead.
I fall into the first category - KP and his style of play is the future of the game, particularly with Twenty20 becoming so huge. Admittedly at times he could be accused of being egotistical and putting himself above the team, but that is the measure of the man and the way he plays.
Having the captaincy, and therefore his own job on the line might just tame him slightly, but lets hope it doesn’t do that too much. The concern would be that he tries to change his game and therefore the team will suffer. My thoughts are that he wont change too much and will revel in the responsibility. One thing he has shown is he doesn’t care what the press say or think about him and that can only be a good thing.
KP will do it his way and live or die by the results.