Pietersen proves he is still England's star

Kevin Pietersen's joy at reaching his double hundred was clear to see

Kevin Pietersen has seen his England role overshadowed in recent years by the excellent performances of the likes of Alastair Cook, Jonathan Trott and Ian Bell.

But his magnificent unbeaten double century against India yesterday proved he is still England's main man.

Cook, Trott and Bell can all be relied upon to score consistent runs, but none of them can take the game away from the opposition in the same way Pietersen does.

He started his innings uncharacteristically watchfully - this was the slowest 50 and subsequent 100 of his Test career - but once he got to 100, and even more so when he got to 150, he stamped all over India and put England well on top.

There were signs of a return to form for Pietersen in the Sri Lanka series, after he made two 50s in the last two Tests, but many were still doubting he would ever return to the magnificent standards he set earlier in his career. They needn't have worried.

Pietersen has so much self-confidence it was inevitable he would come back with a bang.

This is a man who, in his debut Test series, smashed the likes of Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne all around the grounds of England, eventually hitting a sensational innings of 158 at The Oval to seal an Ashes series which had the nation gripped.

The likes of Warne marvelled at Pietersen's batting in 2005

A man who was player of the tournament as England won the ICC World T20 in 2010.

A man who, despite a relative lack of form, hit his best Test score of 227 to help win the second Ashes test of 2010/11.

A man who invented the 'switch hit' shot and bullied greats of the game like McGrath, Warne and Muttiah Muralitharan.

Pietersen may not have been in the best of form in recent years - this was his first Test century in England since he was captain in 2008 - but the fact he still averages 49.83 shows just what a high quality batsman he is.

He relishes the big occasions and produced the goods at Lord's when his side needed him.

He took to the crease on Thursday in the most difficult of batting conditions, but he weathered the storm, played himself in and reaped the benefits as his innings progressed.

It's fitting he found his form in the 2000th Test of all-time and in a series England could take the world number one ranking as he is a big game player.

While many top batsmen fail to produce the goods at Lord's, Pietersen has now hit five centuries there - only Graham Gooch and Michael Vaughan have scored more - and loves playing on the hallowed turf.

Pietersen seems to thrive on the pressure and there are not many finer sights in cricket than him in full flow.

Ian Bell is brilliant to watch with his effortless play but the Lord's crowd were treated to vintage Pietersen, bludgeoning the ball all around the home of cricket after reaching his 150.

Pietersen destroyed the Indian attack in the latter part of his innings

He took 216 balls to reach his first 100 but just 110 to reach his second and that is what Pietersen is all about. That is why he is in this side.

He advances down the pitch - taking the lbw out of the equation - intimidates the bowlers and demoralises the fielders.

He can take the game away from you in the blink of an eye and there are not many others in world cricket that can do that.

In England's team, Eoin Morgan and Matt Prior are more than capable of doing it but Pietersen has the statistics to back it up, with three double centuries and seven scores of more than 150 now to his name.

He went from 150 to 202 in just 25 balls at Lord's, passing the 6000 Test runs barrier in the process, and now appears to be back at his imperious best.

Pietersen did have a couple of let-offs though, twice being reprieved by the third umpire.

The first was when he struck the ball to leg slip Rahul Dravid and, despite on field umpire Billy Bowden giving him out, replays proved inconclusive as to whether the ball had hit the ground and so Pietersen was given the benefit of the doubt.

He was then initially given out after MS Dhoni's delivery - the wicketkeeper bowling due to an injury to senior seamer Zaheer Khan - was adjudged to have clipped Pietersen's bat before being caught, but the decision was correctly overturned on review.

Pietersen immediately asked for a review after the umpire adjudged he had hit the ball

Those were just the two slices of luck Pietersen needed and a player of his quality does not need a second invitation.

There will be those who say he has not overcome all his problems overnight - India do not have a left-arm spinner and Zaheer Khan was not able to bowl - but this innings will go a long way towards rebuilding his reputation.

Pietersen was not at his glittering best for most of his innings but the fact he battled through with such determination proves he is back.

In the past, he would have played a loose stroke and got out when things weren't going swimmingly, but there was never a sense that was about to happen at Lord's and that is extremely encouraging.

The reason Pietersen had not had too many centuries of late is he kept giving his wicket away when he appeared set for a big score, but he built this innings magnificently and got what he deserved.

He will have better innings than this in the future, that is for sure, but he will feel extremely satisfied with how he battled with the demons and came out on top.

Regarding the Test match, today will be the crucial day.

England are undoubtedly in the stronger position after declaring on 474-8, but they will need to do fantastically well with the ball to overcome India's star-studded batting line-up.

The likes of Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar will not give up their wickets easily and the latter would love to make the 100th 100 of his international career at Lord's, so the likes of James Anderson and Graeme Swann will need to be patient.

Legends of the game like Tendulkar and Dravid will not be easy to dismiss

They will not roll through India like they did Sri Lanka but they should be extremely positive after England's batting performance.

Jonathan Trott and Matt Prior both reached 70 and Pietersen's innings - particularly the latter part - will have given everyone added confidence.

Pietersen is back and boy will England need him if they are to win this series.

He has the X-factor to truly light up England's batting line-up and his renaissance means England are surely the stronger side, with every batsman and every bowler more than capable of making match-winning contributions.

Pietersen is the final piece of the jigsaw and on this evidence, he is still very much one of the best batsmen in the world.