{"id":9969,"date":"2026-04-07T21:09:10","date_gmt":"2026-04-07T21:09:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/d.sheep-mine.ts.net\/?p=9969"},"modified":"2026-04-07T21:09:10","modified_gmt":"2026-04-07T21:09:10","slug":"130085758-cms","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/d.sheep-mine.ts.net\/?p=9969","title":{"rendered":"‘Closer to Maldives’: DC tag KL Rahul as Pietersen reacts to CSK mentor call; here’s why | Cricket News – The Times of India"},"content":{"rendered":"


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\"'Closer<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Kevin Pietersen with KL Rahul during a practice session ahead of the IPL T20 cricket match between Delhi Capitals and Gujarat Titans at Narendra Modi Stadium, in Ahmedabad, 2025. (PTI)<\/span><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Former England cricketer Kevin Pietersen said he would like to become a mentor for Chennai Super Kings<\/a>, adding that the city\u2019s location would make it easier for him to travel to the Maldives. His comment was a reference to his travel during IPL 2025.The exchange started on Tuesday morning when a CSK fan asked the franchise on social media to consider Pietersen for the mentor\u2019s role.“Dear CSK please bring KP as a Mentor,” the user posted.\u201cYes please. It is closer to Maldives. Easier travel for me,” Pietersen replied.After his reply, Delhi Capitals joined the conversation and tagged KL Rahul<\/a>. Pietersen and Rahul had built a rapport last season and were often seen joking with each other. <\/p>\n

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Watch<\/span><\/p>\n

Devdutt Padikkal press conference: Chinnaswamy pitch, Tim David\u2019s power & RCB\u2019s batting strategy<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

During IPL 2025, Pietersen was appointed mentor of Delhi Capitals. In the middle of the season, he went on a family vacation to the Maldives, which became a talking point within the team. Rahul had also taken a dig at it.“A mentor is someone who goes to the Maldives for two weeks mid-season,” KL Rahul had said in a video posted by DC in 2025.Pietersen made his IPL debut in 2009 with Royal Challengers Bangalore after being signed for a then-record US$1.5 million (Rs 13.95 crore now).However, his stint did not produce big numbers. He scored 93 runs in six matches at an average of 15.5 and also took four wickets at a strike rate of 19.5 with an economy of 6.53.<\/p>\n

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Poll<\/p>\n

How does Pietersen early IPL performance influence opinions on his mentoring skills?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

In February 2014, the Delhi Daredevils signed Pietersen ahead of IPL 2014 and gave him the captaincy. He had also played for the team in IPL 2012, which was his most productive season in the league.That year, Pietersen scored 305 runs at a strike rate of 147, including an unbeaten 103.<\/div>\n\n

Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Kevin Pietersen with KL Rahul during a practice session ahead of the IPL T20 cricket…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9970,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[2339,24857,17738,4479,20031,17736,21211],"class_list":["post-9969","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-chennai-super-kings","tag-cricket-mentor","tag-delhi-capitals","tag-indian-premier-league","tag-ipl-2025","tag-kevin-pietersen","tag-kl-rahul"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/d.sheep-mine.ts.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9969","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/d.sheep-mine.ts.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/d.sheep-mine.ts.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/d.sheep-mine.ts.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/d.sheep-mine.ts.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9969"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/d.sheep-mine.ts.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9969\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/d.sheep-mine.ts.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/9970"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/d.sheep-mine.ts.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9969"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/d.sheep-mine.ts.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9969"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/d.sheep-mine.ts.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9969"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}