KP's return can cause problems: Strauss
In an exclusive interview to the 'Guardian', former England skipper, Andrew Strauss has said that the team will have to be very careful in its relationship with returning batsman, Kevin Pietersen. He has further stated any lingering discontent in the dressing room is bound to cause problems in the future. Strauss announced his retirement from all forms of cricket after leading England through a summer of discontent and distrust. Their defence of the No. 1 Test ranking against South Africa went pear shaped as they lost 0-2 and relinquished the top spot to the victors. The series will also be remembered for Pietersen's alleged provocative texts to the South African dressing room which resulted in the star batsman being axed from the team before the 3rd Test.
Pietersen subsequently apologized for his actions during a series of meetings with the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) and was a late inclusion in the touring party for the Indian series. Strauss said: "It will be difficult. One of the problems is that there are two separate sections. One is going on in meeting rooms between KP and the players and on the other side is this media intrigue. From [the coach] Andy Flower's point of view, they need to get that first part right. If everyone is happy in the dressing room they will play well. But if it's not resolved then it is a problem. I honestly think it's a real problem."
"If they can make it work, then obviously England will be a better side with KP in it because he's an outstanding player. But if, behind the scenes, things are difficult and resentment is harboured and, if KP is not fully committed to England, there are going to be problems. But it's in everyone's interests to make it work."
Asked whether the fractious relationship between Pietersen and some of the members of the England will heal, Strauss said: "It's an interesting point. Maybe it actually makes it easier for the team that I'm not there because some of it was directed to me. It would have been harder if I'd stayed. I think that it can be [healed]. But everyone has to desperately want it to happen and they all need to let bygones be bygones and not have any grudges and bitterness. Everyone has to want to move forward for the right reasons. That's the question mark and so it's hard for me to tell. But it saddens me that we've been through this - after all the hard work we put in as a group for three-and-a-half years. We all genuinely believed in this special bond and chemistry we had. Unfortunately we've slipped from there and the guys are going to need to recover that. It's going to be tough."
Strauss also said that he did not write any letter to KP about his decision to retire from international cricket. "I didn't write to KP, actually," Strauss said. "But the main reason was that I wrote all those letters so they could be taken down to the Rose Bowl where the guys were playing [in a one-day international.] Obviously I texted KP. That was a strange time for the two of us. A lot had happened and during that period we were quite estranged from each other."
"Kevin has since come up to me and apologised for it and I respect that. He seemed contrite and I think he was sincere. Looking back I think it was wrong some of our players were following that [spoof KP Genius] Twitter account. But I still don't think it's a justification for what Kevin did."
