The third and final test match between England and South Africa is currently underway at Lord's. Having lost the first test of the series and drawn the second one, England have to win this game to avoid abdicating their number one test ranking to the South Africans.
Given this background, it would be normal for any team to come out with all guns blazing and ensure that they select their best players for this must-win game. But the eleven England players that walked onto the park at the beginning of the match yesterday did not include the charismatic Kevin Pietersen, their premier batsman by a long margin!
The reason?
Well, he was DROPPED!!!
And that too, after he had scored a breathtaking century less than a fortnight ago in the second test of the current series!
During that game, Kevin Pietersen had allegedly sent some derogatory text messages about his captain and team members to players from the opposing camp. Since this was not the first time that Kevin had got into disciplinary issues, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) decided to axe him irrespective of the fact that dropping him at this stage of the series could cost England their numero uno throne!
Hats off to the England selectors and captain for their brave decision. For no matter how big a player is, he can never ever be bigger than the team!
