"Hats off to players who have played in certain way for such long time in T20s": Kevin Pietersen

New Delhi [India], May 5 (ANI): Delhi Capitals (DC) mentor Kevin Pietersen showered praise on the cricketers who have adapted their game to the demands of T20 cricket in a consistent manner.

Pietersen admired their mental shift to embrace change and improve their skills.

"I just take my hat off to these players who have played a certain way for such a long time, because of the nature of where T20 cricket is now, have mentally said to themselves, 'I've got to change'...It's frightening to see how good these guys are - and KL in particular," Kevin Pietersen was quoted as saying by ESPNcricinfo.

Pietersen reflected on his conversations with DC batter KL Rahul on how many challenges a cricketer faces when transitioning between different phases of their innings or adjusting to new playing conditions.

"One of our deepest conversations was how difficult it must be to go from a guy that starts in second, third, fourth gear, gets to fifth gear, gets to sixth gear, and then no one can stop him; to a player that now needs to start in fourth gear, end up in fifth gear very quickly, and after five or six balls, be in sixth gear for the rest of the innings,"

After lagging behind the rest of the league, Rahul has transformed his T20 game this year: his strike rate (146.06) is higher than it was in the last six IPL seasons, and his attacking intent has been evident.

Rahul and DC are at risk of tailing off after a bright start: they won their first four games of the season but have lost four of the last six, and have recently slipped out of the playoff spots.

Delhi Capitals are currently in fifth place on the IPL points table with six wins and four losses. Their next match is against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in Hyderabad on Monday at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Hyderabad. (ANI)

(The story has come from a syndicated feed and has not been edited by the Tribune Staff.)