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Evening Standard
Evening Standard
World
Rachael Davies

Social media reacts to Kevin Pietersen's bizarre post criticising Sadiq Khan on Twitter

South African former cricket player and now commentator Kevin Pietersen has taken to X, formerly Twitter, in a bizarre post that many interpreted to be a reference to crime rates in London.

“Gotta go into London today,” the former cricket star wrote, adding: “NO WATCH and a plastic ring! Congrats, @SadiqKhan!”

Shared at 9.15am on Tuesday, April 9, the post quickly racked up well over three million views – as well as over three thousand comments and reactions down below.

Presumably, Kevin meant to imply that a watch or any expensive jewellery would have been pickpocketed in London, tagging mayor Sadiq Khan as a half-joking jab.

A few hours later, Kevin posted an update alongside a photo of himself in the capital, writing: “In London and having the most wonderful day. This city is absolutely incredible. Congrats, @SadiqKhan!”

This update may have been posted in the furore of the replies left on the original tweet, with many taking to X to poke fun or disagree with Kevin’s original comment.

Many social media users were downright confused about what Kevin meant by his initial post, with one person writing: “What a weird thing to tweet.”

Others pointed out that it seemed unlikely that the cricketer usually wears a watch, noting: “Strange no tan line for the watch.”

“Careful, we’re also a big fan of plastic rings!” joked another X user, while someone else added: “I once wore a belt and was mugged within 30 seconds. I daren’t even use hair gel as the youths steal it for their mulletos.”

“Heading into London, you know what that means, time to @ Sadiq Khan attacking him for a crime that hasn't happened,” wrote another person.

Cutting through all the reactions, one person pointed out the real takeaway from the whole post: ”I know this tweet is enraging a lot of people, and quite rightly too because it's ridiculous. However, let's not overlook the fact that this man owns a plastic ring. I repeat, A PLASTIC RING.

“That's the sort of thing you win in a 2p arcade machine.”

Sadiq Khan himself has not yet replied to the post.

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