Renegades eager to lure Pietersen

20 Sep 2012, 6:21 pm   -   Source: AAP
The Melbourne Renegades want to lure exiled England star Kevin Pietersen to the Big Bash League. (AAP)

The Melbourne Renegades want to lure exiled England star Kevin Pietersen to the Big Bash League. (AAP)

Renegades chief executive Stuart Coventry will fly to Sri Lanka next week in a bid to lure England's Kevin Pietersen to the Twenty20 franchise.

He's on the outer with England's national side, but the Melbourne Renegades reckon master blaster Kevin Pietersen would be a perfect fit for their own fledgling group of emerging Twenty20 stars.

Renegades chief executive Stuart Coventry will fly to Sri Lanka next week in a bid to meet Pietersen and lure him to Melbourne for the upcoming Big Bash season.

The Sydney Sixers are also in the hunt for the talented 32-year-old, who is commentating at the T20 World Cup instead of playing after his international career hit the skids following his recent texting controversy.

During last month's Test between England and South Africa, Pietersen allegedly sent derogatory texts about then-England captain Andrew Strauss to players on the opposition side.

But despite the fallout from that, Coventry believed Pietersen would bring important leadership qualities to a young Renegades outfit.

"I think he could add a lot to what our team requires from a leadership point of view," Coventry said on Thursday.

"He's a big-game player. He's been there and done that as a cricketer.

"He's one of the greatest T20 players around the world.

"We've got a fantastic group of guys at the moment. Kevin could fit in very well from a cultural aspect and we could really create a solid environment for him to play good, solid T20 cricket.

"We've gone through a significant list transformation after being favourites last year and not having success.

"We feel we've got a team with a lot of up and comers that can have that success."

Pietersen boasts an average of 37.93 over 36 T20 appearances for England, while he also starred on the international stage in 88 Tests and 127 one-dayers.

The powerful right-hander would play alongside legendary spinner Muttiah Muralitharan at the Renegades should he choose to join them.

It would also set up an enticing derby against the Shane Warne-led Melbourne Stars, with the two teams scheduled to face off at Etihad Stadium on December 7.

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