Kevin Pietersen picks the top 5 batsmen of his era

The news of England batsman Kevin Pietersen’s retirement came as a sad one for many when he announced recently that he will end his professional cricket career after the third edition Pakistan Super League (PSL), to be played in Dubai. Pietersen, who will play for the Quetta Gladiators in the PSL, made the announcement through his social media profile on Twitter.

The batsman, who was sidelined by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) in 2012 and later one more time in 2014 after differences with the team management, recently reflected on the five best batsmen to have played during his career. His list is topped by South Africa’s great Jacques Kallis, who scored more than a whopping 13,000 runs, along with taking nearly 300 wickets during his illustrious Test career.

“Technique wise, unbelievable. Batted for hours, a magician with a bat in his hands,” he was quoted as saying for Kallis, in a video posted by givemesport.com. The batsman to take up the number 2 position on the list is Australia’s finest limited-overs captain, Ricky Ponting, who gave bowlers a nightmare when he came out to bat in the middle overs. Ponting has 13378 runs from 168 Tests.

Highest run-scorer in Test cricket on No. 3?

The third on the list is India’s God of cricket, Sachin Tendulkar, who has the most number of runs in the longest format of the game, with 15921 runs from 200 Test matches. “That hundred he scored against us in Chennai when all odds were against India. He scored that 4th innings hundred when I was captain. The way he was able to manipulate the ball, punch the ball, that heavy bat. Just phenomenal,” KP recalled of the Master Blaster.

The fourth and fifth on the list are West Indies’ Chris Gayle and South Africa’s AB de Villiers. KP backed Gayle’s inclusion on the list not by the number of runs he has in Test cricket, but by how he enjoyed the Jamaican’s power-hitting. De Villiers, on the other hand, has 8338 runs from 110 Tests.

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