Captaincy hinders Freddie's natural game: Pietersen

London, Feb 27 (UNI) Andrew Flintoff may claim to enjoy leading the England team but swashbuckling middle-order bat Kevin Pietersen feels the talismanic all-rounder only ends up hindering his natural game by taking up the responsibility of captaining the side.

Citing the 0-5 Ashes drubbing at the hands of Australia, in which Flintoff was captain and could only show glimpses of his all-round ability, Pietersen said having to lead the side clearly affected Flintoff's own form.

''It's a real hard trip. The Australians target the captain; they think that if you break the captain, you break the team. I thought it would be different because Fred is such a good player and they respect Fred because of how good he is, but they got hold of him and I think it probably played a big part in his series,'' Pietersen told 'The Sun'.

''They do fear him as a bowler and they do fear him as a batter and he showed glimpses of it (his best form). I just wonder whether the burden of captaincy hindered his performances,'' he added.

Pietersen said being captain required a lot of thought process and being an all-rounder, the responsibility only added to the burden on the charismatic player.

''He didn't show it, he wasn't different, but there were little things that maybe hindered his performance,'' he said.

''But when you're standing at the back of your mark and you've got to bowl at 90mph and you're thinking, 'Oh, I should have my first slip a bit wider', it hinders your thought patterns, and it's a tough job, especially if you have Australia on your back,'' he further explained.

UNI