Coventry believes Pietersen will be an excellent addition to the Renegades franchise

After learning that England batsman Kevin Pietersen had been dropped for the upcoming tour of India, Big Bash League franchise the Melbourne Renegades were immediately looking to accelerate their signing of the flamboyant batsman.

Renegades boss, Stuart Coventry, even flew down to Sri Lanka during the International Cricket Council (ICC) World Twenty20 to have a private talk with Pietersen about signing with the franchise.

However, the Renegades may have a problem signing Pietersen since the Sydney Sixers, another major franchise in the Big Bash League, have also expressed their interest in signing the England batsman.

But, Coventry went to Sri Lanka with the hopes of meeting Pietersen, who worked as a cricket pundit for ESPN Star Sports, while also scouting for any other international talents that would make a good edition to his side if Pietersen decided not to sign.

The Age, quoted Coventry as saying: “I’d like to [meet Pietersen], but I think I would want to get an indication first about his availability before talking further, I’m going over there to hopefully catch up with a number of different players who could be a potential marquee player for us, a No. 3, No. 4 bat. That’s my goal, and if he forms part of that, then he will be one of that group of players.”

Coventry noted that of the three spots he had remaining on the Renegades roster, he wanted one of them to be filled by an international superstar.

“We have three places left on our list, and one of them is for an international. If we can grab someone who stands up at the World Twenty20, that is our first priority. But now that Kevin Pietersen is back in the mix, there’s no doubt we and the Sixers have been having some dialogue with his management,” he said.

Coventry stated that his team would stand a great chance of winning this year’s Big Bash League if the franchise were able to sign Pietersen.

“If he is available, we’d love to grab him, but there’s a lot of curve balls in play at the moment, about his availability, whether he wants to come to Australia, whether he wants to come to Melbourne or Sydney,” Coventry added.

In the Big Bash League, every franchise is allowed to sign two international players, and if the Renegades are able to sign Pietersen, they could be heavy favourites to win the tournament since they already signed Sri Lanka spin legend Muttiah Muralitharan earlier in the year.