England will play, Pietersen will judge

Ousted from the England squad, controversial batsman Kevin Pietersen will trade his willow for a microphone in the upcoming Twenty20 World Championships as he has been signed by the event’s official broadcasters ESPN-STAR Sports for a “presentation and analysis” stint.

“In addition, Pietersen will also play an important role in the publicity and promotion of ESS’s broadcast of ICC World Twenty20 in Sri Lanka,” the channel said in a statement.

Pietersen was ignored for the England team despite being a T20 player of repute after he fell out of favour with the ECB for sending controversial text messages to South African players in which he criticised England captain Andrew Strauss and coach Andy Flower. [caption id=“attachment_429147” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Pietersen will trade his willow for a microphone in the upcoming Twenty20 World Cup. AP[/caption] Pietersen was player of the tournament at the last edition of ICC World Twenty20 tournament held in West Indies in 2010. “This places him as one of the most suitable persons to give insightful perspective on this iconic T20 tournament, a format in which he has excelled as a player, thus further enhancing coverage of the ICC World Twenty20 for passionate cricket fans,” ESS said. Pietersen, who played for Delhi Daredevils earlier this year, said, “I am very excited about working with ESPN STAR Sports covering the ICC World Twenty20 watching England defend their title.” ESS will soon be making further announcements on its presentation features and full line-up of commentators for the forthcoming ICC World Twenty20. PTI