Pietersen, 28, will lead England against his native country in the fourth test against the South Africans starting at The Oval on Thursday, the England and Wales Cricket Board said.
Here is a list of players captaining Test teams despite being born in a different country:
| Player | Born in | Captained | Period | Tests | Won | Lost | Drawn | Won% |
| Harris, Lord | Trinidad | England | 1879-1884 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 50.00 |
| Horan, TP | Ireland | Australia | 1885 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0.00 |
| McDonnell, PS | England | Australia | 1887-88 | 6 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 16.67 |
| Warner, PF | Trinidad | England | 1903-06 | 10 | 4 | 6 | 0 | 40.00 |
| Jardine, DR | India | England | 1931-34 | 15 | 9 | 1 | 5 | 60.00 |
| Allen, GOB | Australia | England | 1936-48 | 11 | 4 | 5 | 2 | 36.36 |
| Headley, GA | Panama | West Indies | 1948 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0.00 |
| Brown, FR | Peru | England | 1949-51 | 15 | 5 | 6 | 4 | 33.33 |
| Carr, DB | Germany | England | 1952 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Cowdrey, MC | India | England | 1959-69 | 27 | 8 | 4 | 15 | 29.63 |
| Dexter, ER | Italy | England | 1961-64 | 30 | 9 | 7 | 14 | 30.00 |
| Greig, AW | South Africa | England | 1975-77 | 14 | 3 | 5 | 6 | 21.43 |
| Lamb, AJ | South Africa | England | 1990 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Flower, A | South Africa | Zimbabwe | 1993-2000 | 20 | 1 | 10 | 9 | 5.00 |
| Hussain, N | India | England | 1999-2003 | 45 | 17 | 15 | 13 | 37.78 |