"Captaincy will be similar to me as a person," says Pietersen
28 Jun 2008, 1131 Hrs

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London, June 28 (ANI): England batsman Kevin Pietersen has said that his captaincy will not be too different to his personality.

Having been put in charge of England's one-day team since Thursday in the wake of a four-match ban on previous incumbent Paul Collingwood, The Independent quoted Pietersen as saying that "My captaincy will be similar in style to the person I am."

Delighted to be given the honour on his 28th birthday, Pietersen further said: "It is the best birthday present I have had but, I want to be calm, pretty chilled and let my instinct, gut feeling and the brain I have been given work."

"Tactically I am pretty sound and aware of situations. We have been playing New Zealand for six months so we should know what they are looking to do. Hopefully I won't change from the person I am.

"Over the past couple of days I have been speaking to the players, helping them out, giving certain players responsibilities to make them feel important and to get them to bring the best out of themselves. I have always thrived when I have been given extra responsibility from the captain."

Pietersen continued, "We have had a real good team chat, identifying areas where we can help the skipper. If we do everything we have talked about I will be able to stand at mid-off smoking a cigar on Saturday. The key to being a successful captain is making sure your players want to help you out all the time."

England needs a win today to square the series. The Kiwis lead the series 2-1.

Pietersen will become the first non-English bred player to captain England since Adam Hollioake in the late Nineties, and he will enter the game with no leadership experience.

England (probable): K P Pietersen (capt), I R Bell, L J Wright, R S Bopara, O A Shah, T R Ambrose (wkt), A D Mascarenhas, G P Swann, S C J Broad, R J Sidebottom, J M Anderson.

New Zealand (probable): D L Vettori (capt), J M How, B B McCullum (wkt), L R P R Taylor, S B Styris, D R Flynn, J D P Oram, G D Elliott, K D Mills, T G Southee, M R Gillespie. (ANI)