England's Kevin Pietersen is most likely to end his professional cricket career after the Pakistan Super League’s third edition, which begins in Dubai on Thursday.
The dashing batsman, who will represent Quetta Gladiators in the Twenty20 tournament, posted a photo of him on Instagram hugging his son before leaving to join the Gladiators in Dubai.
"Countless goodbyes to Jessica Taylor and my kids as a cricket player and this one this evening is the last one I'll ever have to do. I've hated every goodbye but also known it's work so just gotten on with it," Pietersen said, hinting that the end is near.
"The journey has been absolutely amazing and for the next three/four weeks I'll be a current professional and then it's chapter closed! Had my time and loved it but the endless goodbyes and travel need to calm down now.
"Cricket has been the best!" he said.
Pietersen guided Quetta to the final of the first two PSL tournaments but did not travel to Lahore last March for the title clash, citing security concerns by his family.
Quetta Gladiators owner Nadeem Omar said Pietersen has also expressed unwillingness to travel to Pakistan for the two play-off matches and final in Lahore and Karachi next month.
"We are still trying to convince him that if our team makes the play-offs and the final we would love to see him carry on for us," Omar said.
England's former Test and One-day skipper was sidelined by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) in 2012 and again in 2014 after differences with the team management.
Omar said Pietersen had played a big role in Quetta’s surge as a top team in the PSL.
Part of successful Ashes-winning sides in 2005, 2009, 2010-2011 and 2013, Pietersen played in 104 Tests, 136 One-Day Internationals and 37 Twenty20 internationals. He scored 8181 Test runs with a high score of 227, 4440 ODI runs and 1176 Twenty20 runs.
