Kevin Pietersen returning to England for surgery – ICC World Cup 2011
England’s Kevin Pietesen will miss the rest of ICC World Cup 2011 as he will be returning to England in the next few hours for a hernia operation. The English team spokesman announced on Monday that Pietersen will not be available for the Poms in the upcoming matches during the mega event.
It is expected that Eoin Morgan will join the team as the English Cricket Board (ECB) has applied to the International Cricket Council (ICC) for a replacement. This is a huge blow for England as the side is already facing many problems with their batting line-up. Pietersen is a senior player in the team and his departure will definitely shake England’s chances to go into the next round.
Pietersen’s recent performance has not been very good. He has played 27 one-dayers since his last century. He got out on a duck in their previous game against his native South Africa. Though he could have performed well with the bat in the last game, he looked more of a threat with his part-time off-spin.
Pietersen’s injury was diagnosed during England’s 6-1 one day series loss in Australia. Pietersen frequently complained about a busy international schedule and his early departure from the World Cup raises many questions over his career in the 50-over games as there were already several rumours about Pietersen’s retirement from one-day cricket after the World Cup.
It will take Pietersen almost six-weeks to recover after his operation and he might participate in the Indian Premier League staring next month. The player is due to earn around $650,000 playing for IPL side Deccan Chargers this season. However, English Cricket Board would like him to be well rested ahead of a busy home season of International Cricket, featuring series against India and Sri Lanka.
The 30-years old Piertersen has played 114 ODIs for England in which he scored 3648 runs at an average of 40. Pietersen is also one of the three players who scored fastest 1000 runs in one-dayers. Eoin Morgan, the replacement for Pietersen, was a part of the English World Cup squad but he could not join the team earlier due to an injury. Now after Pietersen’s early exit from the mega event, the Poms are hoping that he will do the trick for England in the next matches.
Tagged in: England, cricket, Kevin Pietersen, IPL, Eoin Morgan, World Cup, injury, ICC, English Cricket Board,Replacement, operation
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