Kevin Pietersen dropped from World T20 and West Indies tour squads, international career ends

End of the road for Kevin Pietersen?

The England Cricket Board (ECB) and Kevin Pietersen have confirmed that the swashbuckling batsmen will no longer play international cricket for England after he was omitted from the squads to tour the West Indies and for the World T20, scheduled to be held in Bangladesh next month.

Pietersen had been in the news recently for his reported altercations with former England coach Andy Flower. The latter was sacked by the ECB just last week, after the English team suffered a humiliating 5-0 Ashes defeat at the hands of a resurgent Australian side led by Michael Clarke.

This was the final nail in the coffin for the South Africa-born batsman who supposedly hasn’t been on good terms with many people in the English set-up. In 2012, Pietersen faced a similar situation when he was was on the verge of international cricketing wilderness but was called back into the squad after then captain Andrew Strauss retired and Alastair Cook  took over the reins.

Speaking on the sacking, the 33-year-old said: “Playing cricket for my country has been an honour. Every time I pulled on the England shirt was a moment of huge pride. I have a great deal to give as a cricketer and I will continue to play, but I deeply regret it won’t be for England.”

Pietersen has ended his Test career as England’s leading run scorer in Test with 8,181 runs to his name at an average of 47.28.

His sacking could also see him getting a bumper contract at next week’s Indian Premier League (IPL) auction as he is now likely to be available for the entire tournament.