Even as it was rumoured that the Indian Premier League was the source of Kevin Pietersen’s Achilles tendon aggravation, the player in question and his board have vehemently denied it.
The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) emphatically dismissed any suggestion that Pietersen’s injury flared up during the IPL because he went running despite being advised against doing so.
Pietersen has been ruled out of the final three Ashes Tests. It was then reported that Pietersen had inflamed his existing injury during the IPL.
An ECB spokesman denied that Pietersen had put himself in any risk during his IPL stint. “Pietersen reported to Loughborough before he flew out to South Africa and was passed fit to join up with Bangalore.”
“ECB medical staff sent Bangalore a fitness programme and at no stage did Kevin Pietersen do anything to contradict that.”
Earlier Evan Speechly, the Bangalore team’s physiotherapist, had claimed that Pietersen had “got carried away” and gone for a run in Durban, thereby aggravating the injury.
Understandably the player’s own agent was quick to play down the issue. “He would not have been allowed to get on the plane if there was anything wrong. He was never told not to go running.”
{{/usCountry}}Understandably the player’s own agent was quick to play down the issue. “He would not have been allowed to get on the plane if there was anything wrong. He was never told not to go running.”
{{/usCountry}}Pietersen is the latest in a long line of players to have missed out on matches due to recurring injury.
Andew Flintoff was injured during the second edition of the IPL, but recovered in time for the Ashes. Back in India Zaheer Khan and Tendulkar aggravated old injuries during the T20 tournament.