“I retired from ODIs and ECB banned me from T20Is too”- Kevin Pietersen’s brutal dig at ECB after Ben Stokes’ shocking ODI retirement

“I retired from ODIs and ECB banned me from T20Is too”- Kevin Pietersen’s brutal dig at ECB after Ben Stokes’ shocking ODI retirement

Kevin Pietersen and Ben Stokes

One of modern day cricket’s fine all-rounder Ben Stokes shocked the cricket fraternity with his sudden decision to retire from One Day Internationals (ODIs). This announcement came after the three-match ODI series between India and England where Stokes, among others, failed to contribute runs. The real reason behind his retirement, as he said, is “unsustainable” for him. The current cricket schedule, which is packed with ODIs, T20Is, domestic T20 leagues and big leagues like IPL and BBL. Stokes played his last game on Tuesday against South Africa which England lost by 62 runs.

Following Stokes’ announcement, several have started discussing about the tight international schedules and that ODIs are currently becoming unpopular. Former England cricketer Kevin Pietersen also joined the debate.

He recalled his decision of retiring from ODIs due to fatigue. But in the recent tweet, he revealed about his untimely departaure from the sport. In his tweet he took a brutal dig at the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB).

ALSO READ | “Three formats, domestic T20 leagues, and IPL”- Mark Taylor questions cricket schedules after Ben Stokes’ sudden ODI retirement

ECB policy barred Pietersen from playing T20 as well

Ben Stokes
Ben Stokes and Kevin Pieterson

“I once said the schedule was horrendous and I couldn’t cope, so I retired from ODI cricket & the ECB banned from from T20s too……..,” Pietersen wrote and ended the tweet with a laughing emoji. See his post below:

https://twitter.com/KP24/status/1549367643265695744

“As the programming and planning for ODI and T20 format cricket are evry closely linked we have a selection policy that means that any player making himself unavailable for either of the one-day formats rules himself out of consideration for both formats. The selectors will now replace Kevin in both the ODI and T20 squads,” Hugh Morris, the then-managing director of the ECB said in a statement following Pieterson’s announcement.

Pietersen announced his retirement from ODI cricket in May 2012 while adding that he “would have readily played” for the national team in the T20 World Cup which was scheduled next year. But the ECB policy barred him from playing T20 eventually.

Ben Stokes also urges the cricket administrators to bring some change to the jammed schedule by comparing the cricketers to “cars” that can run whenever petrol is filled.

ALSO READ | WATCH: Emotional Ben Stokes walks out to play his last ODI match at his home ground against South Africa