Kevin Pietersen makes a sarcastic remark at Virat Kohli and Shastri for playing Vijay Shankar

England are currently in a must-win situation to make it to the semi-finals of the ongoing World Cup. They will have to beat India and New Zealand to guarantee a top-four spot and it is not going to be easy by any stretch of the imagination. Despite the fact that the tournament is played at their home and in favourable conditions, the opposition team, India will go in as favourites for the contest. Ahead of the high-voltage clash, Kevin Pietersen opted to use sarcasm aimed at the Indian team management.

Virat Kohli and Ravi Shastri haven’t made any changes to the playing combination apart from those forced at them. Shikhar Dhawan was ruled out of the tournament and Rishabh Pant has been added to the squad as his replacement but he hasn’t found favour yet since the team has persisted with Vijay Shankar. Though the all-rounder hasn’t made an individual impact on the game, he is the piece that adds balance to their squad.

KP’s sarcasm

Pietersen like most wants to see the young wicketkeeper-batsman Pant, who brings in a lot of energy and has a certain charm in his batting style feature in the playing XI. He chose to take a dig at Shankar’s performance and the fact that he isn’t really a match-winner when compared to someone like Pant to make his point. The former England captain quipped that while Shankar is going to play a crucial role against England, Pant needs 3 more weeks (by that time the World Cup would’ve already come to a close) to be ready for an opportunity.

“Dear Virat & Ravi – please don’t drop Vijay Shankar.

I think he’s coming into his own and would potentially win you tomorrow’s game.

Don’t think about Pant. He needs another 3 weeks prep before I think he can get into your World Cup side.

Thanks, boys!” KP wrote.

Skipper Kohli was also asked about Shankar in the media interaction on the eve of the game. “It’s a strange one – he had a decent game against Pakistan. He looked assured against Afghanistan. We discussed shot selection after that game. Last game he looked really good and got a good ball from Roach.

There’s not much to look into, he’s (Shankar) very close to getting a good score and we’re confident it will come soon,” he stated.