Kevin Pietersen's rise in world cricket has been a phenomenon to behold and savour for fans of the wonderful game.

By Rajarshi Gupta

When a strong, young man from South Africa appeared for the first time in England colours, the world knew there was something special round the corner.

And KP did not disappoint. His swashbuckling batting and energetic fielding won him fans not only in the general masses but also impressed the ICC, which sat up and took immediate notice of the talent that he brought along. He was awarded with the Emerging Player of the Year and ODI Player of the Year in 2005 for his outstanding demolition of international bowling attacks. A new champion had arrived.

His graph has been on an eternal rise ever since and reached the peak of almost inimitable greatness when he used, for the very first time in the history, the switch shot against the visiting Kiwis to blaze his way to a thundering ton.

KP fought his way past a rigid English cricket system to become the second South African-born cricketer after the legendary Tony Greig to hold the reigns of the England team midway in the Test series against South Africa, when he replaced Michael Vaughan who gave up the job after a disastrous couple of matches.

Pietersen is the stuff legends are made of. He has not only terrorised bowling attacks with alarming consistency but has also brought forth an aggressive English outfit, encouraging injured all rounder Andrew Symonds to fire on all cylinders and forcing Steve Harmison out of ODI retirement. Both these men were at their destructive best and England went on to beat the mighty Proteas 4-0 and might well have completed a whitewash had the rains not abandoned the fifth match at Cardiff.

With the ICC awards ceremony on September 10 in Dubai and his team's tour of India just a couple of months away, KP knows there is much to be achieved yet in an already illustrious career.