In retrospect my handling of Kevin Pietersen was a mistake, feels Sir Andrew Strauss

The handling of the KP affair was not just a problem of differences, it was also a case study for how to manage strong individualistic characters who are going to ask questions. England failed massively in that regard, finding the easiest route of sacking Kevin Pietersen for good. It was a decision that stayed on in the fabric of English cricket, with Sir Alastair Cook admitting after retirement about his failure to maintain balance in the KP affair. Now Sir Andrew Strauss, who had some of the major differences with the South African born English cricketer, now stated that the matter could have been handled better.

"There came a time when some of the people he was close with in the team retired or got dropped. There was an opportunity there, not necessarily to bring him in, but spend a lot more time with him and make sure his views were valued and considered. I think instead I just let KP be KP. In retrospect that was a mistake and might have sowed the seeds for what was to come down the track," Strauss told Sky Sports Podcast.

"I don't think he would have been in the engine-room of the team in that sense but I've always felt a good team environment embraces difference and finds a space for everyone. I think we did that for large periods of time but possibly through neglect, KP became increasingly isolated."

As Pietersen wrote in his autobiography, he was not going to follow the same drummer, rather he would choose his own path for the greater good. The individualistic attitude served him well during the Duncan Fletcher era but Andy Flower and Peter Mooress were different characters. The lack of balance meant the end of romance and Strauss understood that.

"Often KP wanted to be the guy who was slightly separate from the team. On any given day it didn't feel like an issue but over time it became an issue. Would I do things massively differently if I had my time again? Probably not. The worst thing you can do for players like KP is to straitjacket them and say 'you have to abide by x, y and z. You can't go and play in a flamboyant way, you have to grind it out like Jonathan Trott'.

"Effectively you'd be asking him to be someone he's not, so you had to cut him some slack and allow him to be himself. At times, though, what worked for KP almost undermined what the team was trying to do. It felt like there were two completely separate agendas there and that became a problem for me, the rest of the team and [then head coach] Andy Flower," Strauss added.

Although it was never acknowledged, one of the reasons behind KP getting sacked was him embracing the lessons and lifestyles of Indian Premier League, much before English players understood. While currently, players are flocking into the competition, Strauss now suggested that he had sympathy with KP over the IPL.

"I always had sympathy with KP over the IPL. I understood what a big event it was with all the best players playing there together and huge amounts of money on the table as well. Long term my view was that we had to find a window for the IPL. I told the ECB we couldn't compete against each other as it is going to create massive issues within our team.

"But I thought it was incredibly dangerous to allow players to miss Test cricket to play in the IPL. The message you'd be sending and the precedent you'd be setting is that the IPL is more important than Test cricket. I was saying to KP at the time, 'listen, mate, this is the situation. You can't opt in or out if international cricket. You've got obligations to England and hopefully, there are gaps where you can play in the IPL as well'," the former English cricketer concluded.