England's star performer in their only win in the lone T20 match against India, Kevin Pietersen on Sunday revealed that he had to beg the coach for a berth in the playing eleven at the Eden Gardens here.
"I have grown up as a kid wanting to play in Kolkata (the Eden Gardens) and missed out on a one-day game. It was something that I was not really happy about... I begged the coach and said if I could stay and get onto the park tonight," said Pietersen at the post-match press conference.
"I'd be lying if I said it wasn't sore. A broken finger is a broken finger," said the middle-order batsman, who scored a match-winning 39-ball 53 in England's 121 chase over India.
He said he was on painkillers to be in the starting line-up.
"I've been on some pretty good pain killers this evening trying to mask the pain. It's just one of those opportunities to play at this great stadium. Everybody wants to play at the Lord's, Sydney Cricket Ground and the Newlands... This is one of them.
"A broken finger is a broken finger. When you get an opportunity and you mask the pain, you try. I tried this evening and it worked," he said.
Pietersen further said his relationship with stand-in T20 skipper Graeme Swann was fine despite the off-spinner's harsh comments against him in his autobiography.
"It's not something that I agree with... That players writing books during their career. But at the end, our environment is happy.
"It's nothing to do with our relationship. It's something that you guys had fun with. Between us and the team environment is absloutely normal. There is absolutely no drama. It is what it is. Our environment is happy," he added.