Pietersen passes the test, of spin and spirit

Sunday morning almost entirely belonged to Kevin Pietersen. With an array of cuts, sweeps and assertive drives against India's spin trio, the England No.4 had raced away from his overnight 62 to stand at the cusp of a weighty century.

It was a century that Pietersen and England both needed desperately. What with all the nonsense regarding inflammatory SMSes to the opposition and a much-publicized frosty relationship with his teammates that has disrupted English cricket over the last few months. And while scoring 35 runs off 41 balls on the third morning, Pietersen had looked invincible. The century was inevitable and it only seemed a matter of time away.

Most batsmen would have been content with picking off the three runs required for the ton. Especially considering its enormity in the given circumstances. Pietersen though has never been bound by conservative philosophy.

It's unlikely that he can even fathom it.

Rather than waste any more time with well-placed singles, Pietersen decided to reach his 22nd century with an audacious reverse-sweep off Harbhajan Singh.

It wasn't a full-blooded swat. There was no dearth of risk involved either. The ball was quite full and cramping him around his leg-stump. One thing you can always associate with the Pietersen way of batting is impudence. And there was a lot of it on show here, as he delicately closed the face of his bat and guided the ball past the slip fielder for a boundary. His celebrations were comparatively subdued-a triumphant raise of the arms followed by some self-applause.

There have been numerous adjectives used to describe Pietersen over the years. When it comes to his batting though, it wouldn't be unfair to call him a bully even.

The brashness and the hauteur so characteristic of his personality never fail to show up in his batting.

... contd.

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