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The highs and lows of Kevin Pietersen
England batsman Kevin Pietersen was dropped from the One-day squad to tour West Indies on Tuesday. This decision brought an abrupt end to the South African-born cricketer's career.
Here is a look back at the highlights that marked his controversial career.
* Born June 27, 1980, Pietermaritzburg, Natal, South Africa.
*Right-hand batsman, occasional off-spinner.
The highs and lows of Kevin Pietersen
* He qualified to play for England in September 2004 because of his English-born mother. Selected for One-Day tour of Zimbabwe where he scored 104 runs in three innings. Scored three centuries in a subsequent ODI series in South Africa.
* He made two half-centuries on his Test debut against Australia in Lord's in 2005. His knock of 158 in final match at The Oval helped secure the draw which gave England the Ashes.
The highs and lows of Kevin Pietersen
* Sparked controversy by switch-hitting Scott Styris for two sixes in first One-Day International against New Zealand in 2008.
* Named England Test and One-day captain in August 2008 after Michael Vaughan and Paul Collingwood resigned from their respective jobs.
* His stint as captain was short-lived as in January 2009 Pietersen resigned after a fall-out with coach Peter Moores. Pietersen slammed Moores in a report to the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) after a tour of India in late 2008 and the ECB reacted by sacking both captain and coach, saying there was an "irretrievable breakdown" in the relationship between the two men.
The highs and lows of Kevin Pietersen
* Part of successful Ashes-winning sides in 2005, 2009, 2010-2011 and 2013.
* He played in 104 Test matches, 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.
The highs and lows of Kevin Pietersen
* He was fined in September 2010 after posting a Twitter message announcing that he had been dropped for the One-day series at home to Pakistan. The message contained an expletive.
* The former England captain apologised publicly, insisting on Surrey TV that his comments "had not been for the public domain."
* The ECB said Pietersen had been dropped so that he could regain form with his county Surrey after a run of disappointing scores.
The highs and lows of Kevin Pietersen
* Pietersen announced his retirement from all forms of international limited-overs cricket in May 2012.
* Although he retracted this, his relationship with the ECB soured and he was dropped for the final Test of the series against South Africa in a row over "provocative" text messages.
* 2013: Played in victorious home Ashes series, scoring one century in five Tests, and the 5-0 defeat in Australia in which he failed to make a hundred.
* February, 2014: Dropped from One-day squad to play West Indies, signalling end of his international career.