Kevin Pietersen‘s IPL exploits gained him a plethora of Indian followers during his playing days, but the batsman’s hefty paychecks also created a divide in the England team, according to Michael Vaughan.
“I think there was a lot of jealousy,” Vaughan told foxsports.com.au. “And the players will completely deny it now, but I think there was at the time when Kevin was on a massive contract.”
In 2009, Pietersen became a high-profile overseas signing for Royal Challengers Bangalore, bagging a US$ 1.55 million deal, the same value Andrew Flintoff went to Chennai Super Kings for.
“He was saying to the team he wanted to play because it would further the development of the one-day team and all the one-day players would get the chance to play there and improve their game. They deemed that he just wanted to go for the money. He was on a big contract while not many of the other players were even getting sniffed at.”
“It was very much Kevin against the team in terms of that one.”
