By IANS,
London : England all-rounder Andrew Flintoff credited newly appointed captain Kevin Pietersen for the team’s resurgence in the one-day series against South Africa.
England won by seven wickets against South Africa at Lord’s Sunday to take a 4-0 series lead with one to play.
“The dressing room is different. KP is confident and that rubs off on us all,” Flintoff, who stood out in England’s win by taking three wickets and scoring 31 runs, was quoted as saying in BBC sports.
The 30-year-old added: “We had some great times with (previous captain) Michael (Vaughan), but this dressing room is slightly different.
“As long as we keep working hard, I’m sure we can be a successful team.”
However, Pietersen was keen to play down his role as captain, despite the win extending England’s run to five matches played, five matches won under the 28-year-old.
“The captaincy is not about me, it’s about the players – the really good players that turn up and perform day in day out,” Pietersen said.
“At the moment we have guys clicking in every single department, we have a few guys playing exceptional cricket and I’m just fortunate enough to be tossing my hands around in the air occasionally.
“I don’t want to put pressure on anybody, I just want to say to the guys ‘these are the roles we want you to play, now go and play them for six months, nine months, 12 months’. If you give people security and confidence, they will turn up for you.
“The guys aren’t talking about their talent – they are chucking their talent around on the cricket field,” he added.