London, July 23: The ankle surgery which ruled Kevin Pietersen out of Ashes may yet again raise questions on his wisdom of playing in the cash-awash IPL but his Nottinghamshire teammate Ryan Sidebottom has backed him in the hour of crisis.
Both Pietersen and all rounder Andrew Flintoff were criticized for not skipping Indian Premier League ahead of the important Ashes assignment.
“When you are earning large sums of money in those tournaments you will come under some criticism anyway, even without injuries coming into it, but I don’t think that will bother the likes of KP.
“Guys like him have to play all forms of cricket, and earn a living. He has been a big part of England cricket. No one can take that away from him,” Sidebottom said.
Sidebottom said missing Ashes would be disappointing for Pietersen but believe he will comeback strong.
“He will be very emotional. But he has been a big part of England cricket and he will be back as strong as ever. He will be highly disappointed, but you are always going to have injuries even as a batsman, and he will be behind the boys,” he told ‘Guardian’.
Sidebottom also said that filling into the KP shoes would not easy for any one.
“There will pressure on whoever comes in Belly, who has been playing really well, or whoever and they have to do the business. You can’t rest on a 1-0 lead,” he said.
—-PTI