I owe a lot to IPL and ‘genius’ Rahul Dravid, says Kevin Pietersen 

FORMER ENGLAND SKIPPER Kevin Pietersen has thanked IPL and legendary batsman Rahul Dravid for helping him overcome difficulties during his tough times. 

Pietersen, who currently a part of the IPL commentary box, had made his IPL debut in 2009 after the Royal Challengers Bangalore splashed $1.55 million for the swashbuckler. Subsequently, he replaced Dravid as the captain of the franchise. 

After his stint with the RCB, Pietersen played for Deccan Chargers, Delhi Daredevils, Sunrisers Hyderabad and finally Rising Pune Supergiant (RPS). Recently, in an interaction with iplt20.com, the former English batsman made a point to thank Rahul Dravid and the cash-rich league for helping him in his career.

"This Indian Premier League has helped different players come together because you are all team-mates. When players are together for 6 to 7 weeks, possibly 8 weeks if you make that finals, you are together as a unit. The groups are tightly knitted. I think that is really good because you can learn from other people. Speaking from personal experience, Rahul Dravid, how much he helped me in my career. I owe it to the Indian Premier League that I had the ability to come and tap into a genius like that (Dravid) which helped me in my career to overcome a shortfall. And just go from strength to strength. That is thanks to the Indian Premier League." 

He also revealed that the Delhi Daredevils’ mentor’s inputs not only helped him in IPL but also in English cricket. 

"In my autobiography I printed that email from Rahul Dravid. The kindness, the generosity, the time he took to write that email and as simple as he made it sound, was so beneficial for me. It was beneficial for English cricket too because I managed to sort out a little bit of deficiency in my technique which assisted England because it helped me perform a lot better for my country."

In his autobiography "KP", Pietersen has written, 

"Rahul (Dravid) was a great and heroic Indian batsman in his day. He is also a genius at dealing with spin bowlers. Our conversations and emails were a private master class from a genuine guru. Rahul improved my cricket and helped me develop the way I think about the game. His generosity will stay with me always.”

As published in his autobiography, Dravid wrote an email to Pietersen that stated, 

"KP, you are a really good player, you need to watch the ball and trust yourself... Don't let anyone tell you that you can't play spin, I have seen you and you can!" 

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