By Meg Anderson
LONDON, England (TheSportsNEXT) October 19, 2012: Following a meeting with captain Alastair Cook, coach Andy Flower and senior players in England cricket team, the controversial Kevin Pietersen was added to the England Test squad for the upcoming tour to India on Thursday.
The England and Wales Cricket Board’s managing director Hugh Morris said in a statement here, “The meetings were constructive and cordial and all outstanding issues have been resolved”.
Kevin Pieterssen had been out of the side after getting dropped over a controversial text messages row which forced England’s the then Test skipper Andrew Strauss to announce retirement from the game.
After his provocative text messages during the second Test against South Africa, Kevin Pietersen was dropped by England for the third and final test at Lord's in August.
However, the aggressive batsman denied accusations that he told South Africans ways to remove captain Andrew Strauss.
The ECB statement said, “We were keen Kevin should hold a series of face-to-face meetings with team management and senior players before the test squad departs for the UAE and India next week”.
"The meetings were constructive and cordial and all outstanding issues have been resolved. All the England players and management are now keen to draw a line under this matter and fully focus on the cricketing challenge that lies ahead in India", it added.
The National Selector at ECB, Geoff Miller said that having Kevin Pietersen back is a positive move because England needed an extra batsman during the India tour because Ian Bell was scheduled to return home during the series for the birth of his child.
He stated, "We are pleased to welcome a player of Kevin's proven international calibre back into the squad for such an important test series. As we anticipate Ian Bell will return home for the birth of his first child around the time of the second test in Mumbai, the team will benefit from having an extra batsman in the squad."
