10 Minutes With… Kevin Pietersen
Winning the World Cup with England in the Caribbean in 2010 was hands down the best moment of any form of T20 cricket that I've played. It was almost on a par with winning the Ashes in 2005, where England hadn't beaten Australia for 20 years or something. England had never won a white-ball tournament before that, so we knew how special it was in 2010. It was a huge thing.
These days, I’m very busy with my YouTube channel. The Switch is a challenge-based channel where I take the biggest sports personalities in the world, we do cricket challenges, and we have fun. I do masterclasses, major interviews, and just have a lot of fun celebrating the biggest athletes in the world. We're the fastest-growing athlete-led platform in the world. We started three months ago, and we've been very lucky. Our numbers are incredible.
Acquiring a home in the bush in Africa is my proudest post-career moment. It's the greatest place on the planet. Go to Kruger National Park between May and September; it’s prime time. We've got a couple of homes in Kruger. One’s a commercial Lodge, then we've got a private home in the Sabi Sands. There are no fences, so all the animals come in and carry on around us. Safari is a bucket list for most people in the world, and for us to be able to call it home is something for which we always count our lucky stars.
Africa is the greatest place to travel. It has everything. South Africa, Kenya, Tanzania. What a continent. We've just come back from a stay at the JW Marriott Masai Mara in Kenya, and that just gives you a whole different perspective on what safari can look like and what the level of service can be like.
I do a lot of work in conservation in Africa. I'm heavily involved in South Africa in trying to assist in all of the rhino conservation work that is in such desperate need, having lost 90% of the population in the last 10-12 years. We work with a lot of people to try to assist in everything that needs to happen, both with the animals and also with the people who protect the animals.
I would spend a £20 note by giving it to my daughter. She'd spend it very quickly. Probably on a Jellycat.
The Shawshank Redemption is my favourite film. It’s just a brilliant, gripping film – one I can watch again and again.
Zuma is my number-one spot in London. It’s a Japanese Izakaya-style restaurant on Raphael Street, Knightsbridge. There’s a cafe called Brinkley's on Hollywood Road in Chelsea, which was a favourite haunt of ours when we lived there.
24 Rue de l'Université Perfume by Yves Saint Laurent is my fragrance. It’s a special edition I get whenever I'm at the airport.
To recover, I sleep in my own bed. I sauna three or four times a week. I weight train three or four times a week. Then I play a lot of golf, so I spend a lot of time on my physical well-being.
I spend a lot of time on the golf course, so I'm a Peter Millar and G/FORE kind of guy. I also love Dunhill. Those are probably the brands that I wear 90% of the time.
I cracked my bloody rib on Monday night messing about with my boy. He's a bit bigger than he used to be. He's 15 now. We were wrestling, and he kneed me in the rib.
Kevin Pietersen was speaking as part of Marriott Bonvoy’s role as the Official Accommodation Partner of the ICC.
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