England contenders to lift the Twenty20 World Cup - Pietersen

Former England batsman Kevin Pietersen has expressed belief in the English side to go the distance in the ongoing 2016 ICC World Twenty20 tournament.

England has managed to secure a couple of wins from their three Super 10 matches with the third and final game scheduled against Sri Lanka in Delhi on 29th March.

Pietersen firmly believes that if England can make it through to the semi-finals by beating Sri Lanka, they will have a good chance of reaching the final of the tournament.

The 35-year-old also revealed his admiration for the positive attitude England have adopted in recent times and has lauded the team management for allowing the players to play with freedom.

“You only need a couple of players in a T20 tournament to really excel through certain games for you to get yourself through,” Pietersen told Sky Sports.

“I think it is important – the Sri Lanka game, that is a big game.

“If it is in Delhi and they leave grass on it, then England can definitely get into the semi-finals, having beaten South Africa.

“Then it is the case of where the semi-final is being played.

“I have still got my reservations and concerns about this young side playing spinners in the sub-continent.

“If they play it in Mumbai or on a grassy wicket in Delhi, England can make it to the final.

“Where the final is, I don’t know that either.

“I do think that they (England) can win it. I like the positive attitude that they play with.

“They go out carefree and reckless. Also, when they make mistakes, no one punishes them for their mistakes, which is just a huge turnaround.”

Furthermore, Pietersen feels that India will be a hard team to beat in the ICC World T20 despite their dramatic loss in the hands of New Zealand in the very first game.

Picking India and West Indies as the teams to watch out for, Pietersen feels that the Caribbean side are playing to prove a point and have the firepower to win the tournament for a second time.

“India, I know they lost that game (against New Zealand) but goodness, they are going to be really hard to beat.

“I think that (defeat against New Zealand) was a really good wake-up call for India, they are a wonderful side.

“Also, don’t count out the West Indies.

“I have been speaking to a lot of their players and a lot of stuff that is going on off the field before this tournament, they want to prove some things about the quality of players that they’ve got in their team at the international stages and they are big match players.

“They do it around the world, every month in global franchises, local franchises even.

“They are good players and they love T20 cricket.”

With two wins from three games, England are currently placed second in the Group 1 points table and also have a positive net run rate of +0.018.

© Cricket World 2016