KP laughs off 'too old' claims

On Monday, in reply to a question about Pietersen imparting some of his knowledge to the younger members of the Dolphins’ squad during his two-week stay with the KwaZulu-Natal franchise the 30-year-old former England captain admitted that he has reached a point in his career where he is probably regarded as a senior player.

Pietersen, in reference to his age not his cricketing ability, jokingly said “I have probably got to the top of the fence and am on the way down.”

He went on to say: “It is time to start giving back and to realise that there are a lot of young players that do look up to senior players,” he added.

British tabloid, the Daily Mirror, on their website, took Pietersen’s quotes out of context and said that the batsman had admitted to his “best days being behind him” and that he “may be over the hill”.

Pietersen looked in fine fettle as he warmed up for the second day of the Dolphins’ SuperSport Series match against the Warriors after he struck an entertaining 36 off 48 balls on day one.

On his Twitter page on Thursday, Pietersen defended himself against the accusations saying: “Just want to put right what was reported on me today about my best days being behind me. The quote used was taken completely out of context.

“I was merely talking about age and that's it! I'm in SA at the moment to get back playing at my best and it felt great today.”