1980
Born June 27 in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa, to an Afrikaans father and an English mother.
2001
Joins Nottinghamshire with a view to qualifying for England, having become frustrated with South Africa's quota selection system.
2004
Despite averaging more than 50 for three summers, KP becomes unpopular at Nottinghamshire, and joins Shane Warne at County rival Hampshire.
As a departing gesture, his Notts team-mates threw his kit bag out of a third-story window at Trent Bridge.
2005, 158 v Australia, The Oval
It was the moment he announced himself as an international superstar and won over his adopted nation's fans.
With his racoon-style haircut, KP secured England's first Ashes victory since 1986-87 with a stunning post-lunch assault on Brett Lee, and finished with seven sixes on one of the most famous days in English cricketing history.
2007
Scores 104 against Australia, England's first World Cup century since 1996. Backs it up with 100 from 91 balls against the West Indies.
2008
Replaces Michael Vaughan as Test captain and Paul Collingwood as one-day skipper. He lasted less than five months as skipper before resigning following a rift with coach Peter Moores.
2010/11 Ashes
Fills his boots in England's Ashes win in Australia, with the highlight a career-best 227 in Adelaide.
2011 World Cup
When his star batsman took the unilateral decision to leave the World Cup due to a hernia injury, team director Andy Flower left little doubt over his views. He cited medical advice that Pietersen could have taken painkillers and completed the tournament and added that he might have been "a bit braver".
Let's hope his hernia doesn't flare during the Big Bash.
2011, 151 v Sri Lanka, Colombo
Pietersen was one England batsman who thrived on the sub continent. In this game, a frustrated Sri Lanka had no answer to his switch-hitting as he whacking six sixes in a 165-ball innings to help England square the series after four Test defeats in a row.
2012, 149 v South Africa, Headingley
In the middle, he was awesome as he took apart Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel to help give England fleeting hope of victory in a rain-affected match against the world's new best team. The match finished a draw.
Afterwards, he held a sensational press conference.
He hinted captain Andrew Strauss was about to retire and famously declared "it's hard being me in this dressing room".
It was then revealed he had sent disparaging text messages about his team-mates to the South Africa dressing room.
He was subsequently dropped, but England couldn't resist re-integrating Pietersen back into the fold.
2014
With 294 runs at 29.40, Pietersen is England's top scorer in 5-0 Ashes defeat but is often disracted by the Aussie crowd, leading to questions over his efforts in the field.
Despite increasing doubts over his passion for the England Test team, he declares he wants to continue playing and help regain the urn.
A month later, Pietersen announces his international career is over as it is confirmed he will not be in the England squad for the tour of the Caribbean or the ICC World Twenty20.
He's taken pot shots at the England team ever since, and only last week called for the sacking of captain Alastair Cook.
The best and worst of Kevin Pietersen
