Kevin Pietersen, England’s former cricket captain, met Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently. The South African-born ex-England cricketer shared a picture of his meet with the Indian PM and wrote a caption in praise of the politician. Notably, Pietersen has been invited to the Raisina Dialogue event in the national capital and had earlier met the country’s home minister Amit Shah.
Pietersen, who had received an appreciation letter from PM Modi on India’s Republic Day 2022, lauded the 72-year-old for being an “incredible conservationist.”
“We spoke warmly about the release of cheetahs on his last birthday. Thank you for being such an incredible conservationist, Sir @narendramodi! Your infectious smile and firm handshake will always be remembered. We’ll meet again! 🙏🏽,” he wrote along with the image.
Pietersen often takes to the micro-blogging website Twitter to tweet in Hindi. Announcing his arrival in India for the annual multilateral conference on March 2, he had again tweeted in one of the two official languages of the South East Asian country. “Always very excited to be in India. A country I love with the best hospitality in the world. Spending a few days in Delhi one of my favorite cities in the world! 🙏🏽,” he had written which roughly translates to “Always very excited to be in India. A country I love with the best hospitality in the world. Spending a few days in Delhi which is one of my favorite cities in the world! 🙏🏽.”
Pietersen often comes back to India for his cricket commentary stint in the Indian Premier League. He played a key role in the last Test series that India lost in India and was a part of the England side that beat India 2-1. His innings on a turning track at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai is rated one of the best by an overseas batter in Indian conditions.
He played with 104 Tests, 136 ODIs and 37 T20Is scoring 8181, 4440 and 1176 runs in them respectively.