Kevin Pietersen has been added to England’s squad to tour India. This ends the long stand off between a player and the board. It took 73 days to end the duel. Peitersen flew back from the Champions League in South Africa to Oxford and London to meet with Andy Flower – England’s director of cricket, captain Alaistar Cook and some key England players with whom his relationship had become fragile. In their desire to impress upon Pietersen that no player, however talented, was greater than the team, England lacked their most destructive batsman and arguably failed to qualify for the World Twenty20 semi-finals in Sri Lanka while he was employed instead as a pundit in a Colombo TV studio.
Kevin Pietersen recalled for England’s tour of India
“We are pleased to welcome a player of Kevin’s proven international calibre back into the Test squad for such an important Test series,” Geoff Miller’s; the chief selector’s statement read. “As we anticipate that Ian Bell will return home for the birth of his first child around the time of the second Test in Mumbai, the team will benefit from having an extra batsman in the squad and all players who were originally selected for the tour will fly out as planned next week.”
Pietersen will be given time to fulfill his duties with Delhi Daredevils before joining the squad.
Pietersen is back, but who knows for how long? Relationships with several England players remain frosty, particularly with the Nottinghamshire pair of Graeme Swann and Stuart Broad, who captained England in the Twenty20 World Cup in Sri Lanka.
Tags: Champions League, CLT20 2012, Cricket, England, India, Kevin Pietersen
