Sydney: Former England captain Michael Vaughan believes Kevin Pietersen was used as a scapegoat whenever things went south because of the enigmatic character that he used to be.
Pietersen was one of England’s X-factor players, who won matches single-handedly for the team. However, his career ended much before it should have been because of the ‘textgate’ scandal that rocked England cricket in 2012.
Vaughan stated that Pietersen’s messages were ‘out of order’, however, England used him to win the India series but then made him the scapegoat when things went wrong in Ashes in Australia.
‘They managed players brilliantly for many years but I just feel around that time they just let it drift and they were looking for a scapegoat, and he was the perfect excuse …’ Vaughan told foxsports.com.au..
‘In 2012 his text was bang out of order. Now, where English cricket were wrong in my opinion was they allowed him back in and he went to India.
‘From (after the tour of India) on you felt like they used him to win a big series and then when it started to go pear-shaped again it was almost as if they had this excuse of why it was and it was always going to be Kevin Pietersen,’ he said.
Vaughan also revealed an incident after the fateful Ashes series of 2013-14 that left a sour taste in his mouth. He claimed that the entire blame was being out on Pietersen after their 0-5 humiliation and he just couldn’t believe how one player could be responsible for such a one-sided loss.
‘We were getting briefed in the comm box through messages from the England coach at the time, Andy Flower, that it was all (because of) Kevin,’ Vaughan said.