Kevin Pietersen came down hard on Welsh Fire, and upcoming England batter Tom Banton, asking him to not “waste his talent” and to learn from the likes of Virat Kohli, David Warner and Rohit Sharma.

The 22-year-old Banton made 36 off 20 balls from the top for Welsh Fire against Southern Brave on Wednesday, his highest score in The Hundred so far, but has made just 96 runs in seven innings, averaging 13 with the bat.

Speaking on Sky Sports’ post-match show, Pietersen felt Banton should “rework the way he goes about his batting” and curb his natural attacking instincts.

“He has all the talent but at the moment he is wasting it. He hits way too many balls in the air. He needs to learn to hit the ball along the ground, learn to hit extra-cover hard, mid-wicket hard,” Pietersen said.

 

Hate seeing talent being thrown away so early in a career! https://t.co/0HKSOxXEaE

— Kevin Pietersen🦏 (@KP24) August 12, 2021

“You have to look at the best players around the world. How often do they think, ‘let me just hit it in the air, my release shot is a six’?”

Pietersen cited the example of Kohli and Warner and also picked out James Vince and Rohit Sharma as others Banton should look up to.

“Virat Kohli, David Warner – look at all the players starring at the top of the innings. They hit extra-cover on the ground for four. How often do you see Kohli hitting sixes all over at the start of his innings?

“Banton needs to learn from the others and keep the ball on the ground, know there are gaps between fielders. [Going for sixes] is not the gaps he needs to go at. If the ball is there, you absolutely have the right to hit it. However, you have to earn that right.

“Vince earned that right with some of the defensive shots he played, some of the gaps he hits. He cuts the ball beautifully, pulls the ball along the ground, finds the gaps. That is how you build an innings. You don’t have respect if you just think you can bomb everyone.

“Rohit Sharma, for India or the Mumbai Indians in the IPL, is so calculated in the way he goes about his business.”

With many taking issue with the comments, Pietersen went on to explain his statements on Twitter.

I’m all for commentators being stronger on calling players out who they perceive to be underperforming – usually declining big name veterans on high salaries deserve criticism the most – but in my view this is so wrong, both on a performance-based and human level. https://t.co/nlvJsWngpV

— Dan Weston (@SAAdvantage) August 12, 2021

“Watch the best and most consistent(Virat/Rohit/Warner/Bairstow) & see how often they just got 6’a to start – NEVER!!!!!,” Pietersen replied to a Twitter user.

Watch the best and most consistent(Virat/Rohit/Warner/Bairstow) & see how often they just got 6’a to start – NEVER!!!!!

— Kevin Pietersen🦏 (@KP24) August 12, 2021

Banton last played for England in 2020, but had a strong T20 Blast season for Somerset, slamming 236 runs at an average of nearly 40 and a strike-rate of 195.04, the highest for any batter to score at least 100 runs.

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