Kevin Pietersen to deliver Pataudi lecture; BCCI secretary fumes

Bengaluru, May 18: Former England captain Kevin Pietersen will deliver the MAK Pataudi Lecture, thereby becoming the first non-Indian to do so. But the selection of Pietersen has paved way for dissatisfaction among a section of BCCI officials.

The five speakers who delivered previous lectures were - Sunil Gavaskar, Anil Kumble, VVS Laxman, Rahul Dravid and Farokh Engineer. According to ESPNCricinfo, BCCI acting secretary Amitabh Choudhary criticised Saba Karim, BCCI's GM Operations, for the process, which began on May 10, through which Pietersen was selected.

"This last email on the trail by GM (Cricket Operations) and expression of happiness on it had left me wondering whether the Memorial Lecture was indeed MAK Pataudi Memorial Lecture or Sir Len Hutton Lecture or for that matter Sir Frank Woolley lecture," Choudhury wrote in a letter to Karim, other BCCI office bearers and Committee of Administrators.

Being treated to a quite magnificent sunset here in Pune this evening.

NATURE AT ITS BEST! pic.twitter.com/EPDV6zLtGI

— Kevin Pietersen (@KP24) May 13, 2018

Karim's original list contained the names of, apart from Pietersen, former Sri Lankan captain Kumar Sangakkara, former England captain Nasser Hussain and former Indian skipper Sourav Ganguly.

The CoA had initially picked Sangakkara but Choudhary was not in agreement over the choice and instead suggested the names of former Indian cricketers Nari Contractor, Chandu Borde, EAS Prasanna and Abbas Ali Baig to deliver the lecture.

"These cricketers have even the distinction of having played alongside Tiger Pataudi and if any of them agrees it could provide the much needed perspective on how cricket has evolved from those years of challenge," Choudhury wrote.

My opinion, this was the greatest feeling in my career! #OnThisDay 8yrs ago! pic.twitter.com/NdcREUixLK

— Kevin Pietersen (@KP24) May 16, 2018

"As I understand, Tiger Memorial Lecture is not an elocution contest and reasonable communication skills are all that we should look for. It is meant to bring to the fore the evolution of the game, what it meant to play for the country in the old days, the hardships of the time, challenges of the future, and the like.

"If that be the case, certainly once every few years an iconic cricketer of yore should find a place as the keynote speaker in the Memorial Lecture," he mentioned in the letter.

However, Vinod Rai, the chairman of CoA, went ahead and approved Sangakkara's name and with him not available they selected Pietersen, who has agreed to deliver the lecture.