KP refocuses his life after retiring from cricket: 'I've got better and bigger things to go on to now'

Kevin Pietersen now intends to apply himself fully to wildlife conservation and the protection of endangered species. And he revealed that his love affair for nature was rekindled by his exclusion from the England setup

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Kevin Pietersen says he knew it was time to retire when playing in a Twenty20 match became as draining as Test cricket.

The former England captain has called time on an illustrious career at the end of his participation in the Pakistan Super League with Quetta Gladiators.

He retires with more than 30,000 runs to his name - accumulated across cricket's three formats - and has no qualms about stepping away from the sport.

"I've had enough," Pietersen said on ITV's Good Morning Britain.

"Twenty overs of fielding feels like playing a Test match so it's time to hang up the boots. I've got better and bigger things to go on to now.

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Kevin Pietersen has retired

"I've had a wonderful career but I just don't think I've got it in me to keep improving or try to improve."

Pietersen's colourful career off the pitch divided opinion but on it there is little doubting his excellence.

The Natal-born batsman played in 104 Test matches for England in addition to 136 one-day internationals and 37 T20Is.

He made 32 international centuries between his debut, in Zimbabwe in 2004, and his final match - the Ashes Test against Australia in Sydney in January 2014.

KP: ENGLAND STATS
Tests: 104 matches, 181 innings, 8,181 runs, ave 47.28, 35 50s, 23 100s
ODIs: 136 matches, 125 innings, 4,440 runs, ave 40.73, 25 50s, 9 100s
T20Is: 37 matches, 36 innnings, 1,176 runs, s/r 141.51, ave 37.93

However, controversy over his alleged involvement in a series of derogatory text messages about Andrew Strauss truncated his international playing days.

"Being a South African in an English dressing room is occasionally frowned upon but I felt incredibly accepted and I loved my career," he said.

"I didn't mind pressing buttons to try and achieve really good things and to get the best out of people I had to press buttons they didn't like.

"Unfortunately or fortunately that's my character. I strive to be the best I can possibly be and help others be the best they can be and sometimes I rubbed them up the wrong way, I said things they were uncomfortable with.

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Pietersen enjoyed an illustrious career

"It is what it is. I had a pretty cool time doing my job and it really is one of the greatest things calling yourself a professional sportsman."

Pietersen now intends to refocus his life towards wildlife conservation and the protection of endangered species. And he revealed that his love affair for nature was reignited by his exclusion from the England setup.

"I think I can do something better now than scoring runs for England," he said. "There's a huge issue in the world with trophy hunting...The England issue, yes, that was horrendous for a while but it allowed me to go back to Africa and rekindle my youth, rekindle my love affair with animals...

"It was a horrible time, of course it was. But it's water under the bridge, it's time to move on and I don't look back. I played 100 Test matches for England. If you'd asked me if I would even play first-class cricket or play at Lord's I would have said, 'Shut up'.

"For me it was the most incredible experience, a lucky experience, but now I've got a second chapter which is a lot more important than hitting a cricket ball."

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Pietersen made 32 centuries for England

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