Kevin Pietersen and Rahul Dravid
After England openers Dom Sibley and Zak Crawley struggled and departed cheaply against Sri Lanka's spinners in the second Test at Galle, former batsman Kevin Pietersen shared the email which he had received from batting great Rahul Dravid.
Pietersen, on his official Twitter handle, shared photos of Dravid's email, asking the England team management to share it with both the openers.
While Sibley departed on a duck, Crawley was sent back on 5 on Day 2 of the second Test. Sibley was trapped on the pads, followed by Crawley nicking the ball to Lahiru Thirimanne at the first slip. Both the batsmen were shown the exit door by spinner Lasith Embuldeniya for the third time in a row.
"Hey @englandcricket, print this and give it to Sibley & Crawley. They can call me to discuss it at length if they want," Pietersen tweeted.
Before sharing Dravid's email, Pietersen had tweeted, "Crawley & Sibley need to go find the email that Dravid sent me about playing spin. Changed my game."
When Pietersen was struggling to play spin during a phase in his career, Dravid had suggested him to bat without pads against the likes of Graeme Swann and Monty Panesar.
Known for his solid defence and batting technique, Dravid had also told Pietersen to pick up the length out of bowlers' hands. Pietersen has also mentioned about Dravid's advice in his book titled "KP: The Autobiography".
While veteran James Anderson picked six wickets to bundle out hosts Sri Lanka for 381, England failed to get a good start. After the departure of Sibley and Crawley, Root (67*) and Bairstow (24*) stuck at the crease until stumps. England finished at 98/2 on the second day.
