The flamboyant and sometimes controversial former England cricket team captain, Kevin Pietersen had an interesting career full of ups and downs on the cricket pitch.
Pietersen is one of few cricketers in the world who could quickly adapt to any situation and change his style and strategy in the midst of a match.
On several occasions, Pietersen delivered some great innings. Through his international career, he has scored 4184 runs at an average of 41.84 in one-day internationals and an average of 37.93 runs per match in international T20s.
While much has been said and written about Pietersens cricket career, there are also many interesting things to learn about this cricket icon's personal life. This article explores some of the little known facts about Kevin Pietersen that you probably didn’t know..
Career Controversies
Kevin Pietersen hails from South Africa but migrated to England in 2000 to protest against racial quotas.
During his international cricket career, he was involved in several controversies, including inappropriate twitter outbursts, sending derogatory texts to team members and his fall-out with former England captain Peter Moore.
In fact, it is believed that these controversies led to Pietersen being axed from the England squad for the 2012 Lord's Test.
Wildlife Conservationist
While Pietersen is widely known for his brash, often aggressive outbursts on the cricket pitch, not many people know that Pietersen also has a softer side.
Kevin Pietersen cares deeply about wildlife preservation and works tirelessly to protect endangered species from going extinct.
Owing to his passion for wildlife convervation, Pietersen founded the Save the Rhino initiative, as part of which he urged people to donate towards saving the Rhinos in his native South Africa.
He also set up SORAI, a wildlife preservation initiative that focuses on building awareness and support towards wildlife conservation. The SORAI team works towards the rescue and rehabilitation of abandoned, injured, and endangered species that are at risk of going extinct.
Pietersen is involved with various fundraising projects, and working with endangered animals in both Africa and India.
Family Man
Through the years, Pietersen has enjoyed a satisfying personal life with plenty of professional cricket opportunities around the world.
However, Pietersen now enjoys a calmer and more stable life as a family man with his wife and two children.
Pietersen met his former popstar and Liberty X singer Jessica Taylor in the mid-2000’s. The couple dated for a few years until marrying on December 29th, 2007 at St Andrew's Church in Wiltshire
Interestingly, Pietersen’s former England team-mate Darren Gough acted as the best man at the wedding.
Pietersen is now a happy family man with two kids. The family calls South Africa their first home and England their second. They split their time between the two countries.
Brand Ambassador
In an effort to expand into the Indian market, Betway (one of the world’s most popular online betting sites) signed Kevin Pietersen as their “Global Cricket Ambassador” in 2019.
For Betway, roping in Kevin Pietersen as brand ambassador has been the perfect way to appeal to cricket fans in India, where Kevin Pietersen is a popular name due to his many appearances in the Indian Premier League.
For Pietersen, acting as brand ambassador for Betway enables him to keep a strong connection to his fans, with whom he shares his expertise and predictions on popular cricket matches.
Betway found the perfect ambassador in Pietersen and have already seen a large fanbase hop on to their site.
Click to learn more about Betway India and their collaboration with Kevin Pietersen.
After reading this article, we hope you feel a little bit more knowledgeable on Kevin Pietersen, and the interesting life he has led so far!