England Batsman Kevin Pietersen has been ruled out of the remainder of the World Cup because of a hernia problem. Pietersen will also miss out on the Indian Premier League which gets underway in April.
Pietersen played in England’s remarkable victory over South Africa on Sunday and bowled eight overs after being given out in the first over of England’s innings, but it has now been decided to bring an operation scheduled for after the tournament forward because of the discomfort it caused him during the match.
Despite his well-documented struggles with the bat of late – he hasn’t scored a century since 2008 in the shorter form of the game – he would have remained the most dangerous player for England with those who place sports bets.
Middlesex’s Eoin Morgan will replace the South African-born batsman for the remainder of the tournament, having recovered sufficiently from the finger injury that ruled him out of the tournament initially.
Coach Andy Flower had hoped Pietersen would be able to make it through without the need for an operation but said it had soon become apparent that Pietersen would be unable to continue in the tournament.
“(the England medical team advised)the hernia problem that he had would not get significantly worse and he wasn't going to tear anything so we hoped that he would get through the tournament ok, take pain killers when needed and bite the bullet.”
"Unfortunately he says that the pain is too debilitating and he can't go on like that, so it's a pretty simple decision in replacing him.” He added.
The problem was initially discovered during the one-day series against Australia, which England lost 6-1, prior to the World Cup. Pietersen revealed he was to leave the tournament on his twitter profile after newspaper speculation surrounding his injury struggles began to build, and admitted he was “absolutely devastated”.
“I fly home tonight….. Sad to leave India. Love the people & the hospitality!!” he wrote.
England now face the dilemma of finding a new opening partner for captain Andrew Strauss after Pietersen was promoted up the order for the tournament. Ian Bell, Johnathan Trott or Ravi Bopara are the likely candidates to replace him with Morgan likely to fit in lower down the order into his usual “finishing” role.
After beating South Africa, England have put themselves in pole position to progress beyond the group stages after their shock defeat against Ireland. Strauss will lead his side out against Bangladesh on Friday as sports betting favourites, knowing that a win will all but guarantee their place in the next round.
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