Kevin Pietersen thanks IPL and 'genius' Rahul Dravid

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Pune, April 12: Former England captain Kevin Pietersen has thanked the Indian Premier League (IPL) and batting legend Rahul Dravid for helping him improve as an international cricketer.

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Pietersen made his IPL debut in 2009 when he was bought by Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) for $1.55 million. The same year, he was named captain of RCB, replacing Dravid. "The Wall" played under Pietersen's leadership for Bangalore franchise. (Samson thanks Dravid after IPL ton)

After his stint with RCB, Pietersen played for Deccan Chargers (DC), Delhi Daredevils (DD), Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) and finally Rising Pune Supergiant (RPS).

'Genius' Dravid

This year, Pietersen has made his debut as an IPL commentator. So far he has impressed with his insights into the Twenty20 league. He was a big hit with fans recently for his banter with Mahendra Singh Dhoni during a match. (Watch Pietersen-Dhoni banter)

Last night (April 11), after Rising Pune Supergiant (RPS) and Delhi Daredevils (DD) match, in an interview with IPL's official website, Pietersen spoke about how Dravid helped him in his career, thanks to IPL.

"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 an unit. The groups are tightly knitted. I think that is really good because you can learn from other people," Pietersen said.

He continued, "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."

The South African born right-handed batsman said Dravid's inputs not only helped him but also English cricket.

Dravid's email

"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," he said.

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."

In an email (as printed in his autobiography) to Pietersen, Dravid wrote, "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!"

Pietersen played 104 Tests, 136 One Day Internationals and 37 Twenty20 Internationals for England. He scored over 13,000 runs in international cricket.

Dravid is now the mentor of Delhi franchise in IPL. He is also the coach of India's 'A' and Under-19 teams.

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