Pietersen apologises for Twitter outburst

LONDON: Kevin Pietersen has apologised for his furious reaction to England’s decision to leave him out of the one-day squads to face Pakistan.

Pietersen was axed from the five One-Day Internationals (ODI) and two Twenty20 matches after a poor run, in an attempt to give him time to rediscover his form during a loan spell with English county Surrey. And the batsman responded to the news by posting an explicit message on Twitter.

Pietersen’s blast was reported to have infuriated national selector Geoff Miller and, in a bid to calm the situtation, the batsman has apologised for his rant.

The 30-year-old claimed he published the message on Twitter by mistake and apologised for his comments ahead of his Surrey debut against Worcestershire.

“It came out in the way that I didn’t want it to come out,” Pietersen told Surrey TV. “It was something that wasn’t meant for the public domain and I apologise for it entering the public domain and I also want to apologise for the language I used.”

Gough lashes out

Darren Gough has blasted the decision to axe out-of-sorts Pietersen. The 39-year-old former international told TalkSport that Pietersen - the star of England’s winning World Twenty20 campaign earlier this year - deserved a chance to rediscover his form against Pakistan.

“He’s England’s best ODI player and what better way for him to get back into form than to go out against Pakistan and belt it,” said Gough. “It’s absolutely pathetic that you can drop the man who was player of the tournament at the World Twenty20 earlier this year.

Gough also insisted Pietersen should continue to be a part of England’s plans for their defence of the Ashes in Australia. “If they don’t take him to the Ashes, we might as well just give Australia the urn,” added Gough.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 2^nd, 2010.