Kevin Pietersen: KP's year ahead of latest IPL League stint

Kevin Pietersen will be playing for his fifth IPL franchise during the 2016 tournament having joined Rising Pune Supergiants. Supergiants.

Supergiants, who are captained by MS Dhoni and play reigning champions Mumbai Indians in Saturday's IPL opener, have picked up a player in decent nick, too.

Pietersen has shone over the last 12 months for Surrey, Melbourne Stars and St Lucia, as well as in his native South Africa and the subcontinent.

Read below for the story of Pietersen's year with the bat - and then catch full live coverage of the IPL on Sky Sports.

County Championship Division Two (Surrey)

Innings: 6
Runs: 469
Hundreds: 1
Highest Score: 355no

Pietersen missed last term's IPL in order to play for Surrey and try to earn his England place back - and he promptly amassed the highest score of his career. KP made an unbeaten 355, which contained 36 fours and 15 sixes and came off a mere 396 deliveries, while batting against Leicestershire at The Oval in May, but his mood was soured shortly after when, following a meeting with newly-appointed director of England cricket Andrew Strauss, he was told "trust issues" were impeding his return to the international set-up. Pietersen batted in just one further first-class innings for Surrey in 2015, making two against Lancashire, before he headed to the Caribbean…

Caribbean Premier League (St Lucia Zouks)

Innings: 10
Runs: 295
Fifties: 2
Highest Score: 83no

A 'zouk', if you didn't know, is a carnival beat with a rapid tempo - and, speaking of rapid tempos, that's exactly what Pietersen produced when biffing 83 from 57 deliveries against Jamaica Tallawahs in Kingston. KP's pyrotechnics could not fire the Zouks to victory on that occasion, though, as Chadwick Walton (76 from 48) and that Chris Gayle fella (64no from 42) ran amok. Pietersen's 39-ball 73 versus Barbados Tridents a game earlier, in which he smoked seven fours and five sixes, did propel his side to a win, but they were dumped out in the group stages for the third straight year.

Ram Slam (Sunfoil Dolphins)

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Innings: 7
Runs: 401
Hundreds: 2
Fifties: 2
Highest Score: 115no

Back-to-back fifties for Pietersen in the Caribbean were followed by successive centuries in South Africa. The 35-year-old smashed 10 sixes into the Kingsmead crowd in his 115 off 66 balls against Lions, before nailing seven more in a score of exactly 100 from 45 deliveries versus Knights. Pietersen followed that up with consectutive half centuries, although he was less effective when he returned for his side's last two games - scoring 27 in the semi-final before hitting 10 in the final as Dolphins lost to The Unlimited Titans.

Big Bash (Melbourne Stars)

Innings: 9
Runs: 323
Fifties: 4
Highest Score: 76

Pietersen played an important part as Melbourne Stars broke their semi-final curse and booked a spot in the BBL final after four previously failed attempts. KP was the Stars' top run-scorer for the tournament, cracking fifty in nearly half of his innings. That included 62 from 36 balls in the semi-final win over Perth Scorchers, but another half century in the final (74 off 39), could not secure the Stars the title they so desperately covet. Usman Khawaja - in sensational form during the Australian summer - hit 70 from 40 balls, helping Sydney Thunder to a three-wicket win, successfully chasing down 177.

Pakistan Super League (Quetta Gladiators)

Innings: 9
Runs: 215
Fifties: 1
Highest Score: 53

Pietersen wasn't quite the powerhouse Pakistan fans expected for his nine matches with the Quetta Gladiators in the inaugural season of the PSL. He struck only one fifty in nine innings, although he did at least save that for a low-scoring semi-final against Peshawar Zalmi, when his 53 off 38 balls proved crucial in a one-run win. The final was a less successful affair, however, with KP managing only a run-a-ball 18 in a six-wicket defeat to Islamabad United - Dwayne Smith (73 off 51) and Brad Haddin (61no off 39) putting on an ultimately match-winning 85 for the second wicket.

Live Indian Premier League

Sky Sports is the only place you can watch all the action from the 2016 IPL, starting on Saturday as Pietersen and the Rising Pune Supergiants face defending chapions Mumbai Indians, including England's Jos Buttler, live on Sky Sports 3 from 3pm.  Or watch live without a contract from £6.99, on NOW TV.