'Dhoni is in my pocket': Kevin Pietersen and Zaheer Khan engage in playful banter

Ex-India pacer Zaheer Khan and former England skipper Kevin Pietersen were always at one another during their playing days and 17 years after the much-talked-about Jellybean incident, the duo were involved in another banter, albeit in a playful manner. This time the two were engaged in a light-hearted social media discussion while talking about their encounters with former India skipper MS Dhoni. While Pietersen has often spoken about almost being dismissed by Dhoni back in 2011, few are aware of the fact that the former India captain was dismissed by the Englishman four years back during a Test match at The Oval. Speaking about their Test scalps, Pietersen said he dismissed Kamran Akmal as his maiden Test wicket. Zaheer also reminisced about his 300th wicket, which was former South Africa all-rounder Jacques Kallis. Though Pietersen could not resist bringing up his dismissal of Dhoni and it resulted in both the players being involved in a playful exchange of words. Here’s how the banter played out: Kevin Pietersen: You know who else I’ve got in my pocket here? The great Mahendra Singh Dhoni. Right there, there he is next to Kamran Akmal. Zaheer Khan: You know I met Yuvraj Singh recently and he was talking about Kevin Pietersen being there. Kevin Pietersen: Yeah, I knew it. I knew you were going to say that. Speaking about their own experiences during their playing days, Pietersen recalled the camaraderie that develops among players over time. He said that when Ravichandran Ashwin and Ben Stokes call it a day, they too will remember their battles fondly and there will be proper banter between the two. “The good thing is you can speak about it and have fun with it. It’s the same thing a guy like Ashwin would do with Ben Stokes when their careers are finished. They will be having a laugh, having a joke like this,” Pietersen said. Pietersen was present in the commentary panel for the first two Test matches and now that he is flying out, it will be interesting to see who replaces him for the rest of the series. India bounced back after the defeat in the first Test in Hyderabad with an emphatic performance in Visakhapatnam. The third Test of the series is scheduled to start from February 15 in Rajkot.