English all-rounder Kevin Pietersen said he has no plans to play in the KFC T20 Big Bash League following his retirement from one-day international cricket. Pietersen insisted he had no option but to quit ODIs last week because he risked falling out of love with cricket altogether and he wants to keep playing Tests for at least four more years.
It means he will play no part in the forthcoming month of limited-overs cricket against West Indies and Australia, any more future 50-over fixtures – including the 2015 World Cup – or, as it stands, England’s defence of their World Twenty20 title in Sri Lanka. But he made it clear he had no intention at present of adding Australia’s high-profile domestic competition to a T20 portfolio which already includes the Indian Premier League and Surrey. “I am not playing Big Bash,” Pietersen was quoted as saying by ‘AAP’. He hoped that the break he will take after the Windies Test series, and others in future, will allow him to play five-day cricket for another four years at least. “I want to play until I am 35,” he said. UNI