West Indies coach Ottis Gibson has said both England and Kevin Pietersen himself could end up regretting the star batsman’s retirement from international limited overs cricket. The South Africa-born Pietersen quit one-day duty for his adopted country this month when he was told by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) the terms of his central contract would not allow him his wish of abandoning 50-over one-day matches while still playing Twenty20 internationals. Pietersen had been settling well into the role of opener and ended his ODI career with back-to-back hundreds against Pakistan. But England will begin one-day life without him in a three-match series against the West Indies starting at Southampton on Saturday, with Ian Bell set to take Pietersen’s place at the top of the order. Pietersen’s exit comes as West Indies welcome back a star opener of their own in Chris Gayle, following the former captain’s 15-month exile from international cricket due to a dispute with Caribbean cricket officials.
“If you look at when Gayle has been away, we missed our best player,” Gibson said Thursday. “It’s a big thing to lose your best player. KP has been good in the last two one-day series and they were trialling him at the top of the order. “It seemed it was going to work but now they have to put someone else in that spot and hope that person has the form KP had. “Bell is very different and he is also a very capable replacement. We know we still have to work to get him out.”