Published: Nov 20, 2015, 12:30 PM (IST)
Edited: Nov 20, 2015, 12:50 PM (IST)
Johannesburg: Former South African wicketkeeper Mark Boucher has expressed his surprise over the omission of Ian Bell and Kevin Pietersen from England’s Test squad for the upcoming series against South Africa. “Eng without @KP24 and now @Ian_Bell… I may be wrong, but I’m feeling a sudden boost of confidence throughout SA fans. #interesting,” Boucher wrote on Twitter. Veteran batsman Bell, who is England’s second highest run scorer across all formats, has been struggling for form. He has averaged 30.87 in his last 10 Test innings, Sport24 reported. ALSO READ: Kevin Pietersen slams decision to drop Ian Bell for England vs South Africa 2015 series
Meanwhile, maverick batsman Kevin Pietersen has not represented his country since the 2013-14 Ashes series despite averaging 47.28 in Tests. According to Andrew Strauss who is the managing director of England cricket, Pietersen has been omitted from the scheme of things owing to trust issues. Bell’s omission is largely due to the reason that his form has been incredibly poor in the past couple of years. ALSO READ: Ian Bell’s axing brave decision from England, albeit at a wrong time
Yet, the decision to drop him ahead of an away series of a South Africa tour has been widely criticised. Most people feel the decision is a bold one but has come at an inopportune time since a tour of South Africa is always difficult and the lack of experience that Bell brings to the side will be sorely missed. Moreover, other people have questioned the decision to replace Bell with Gary Ballance who has himself looked out of sorts in the Test arena.
Eng without @KP24 and now @Ian_Bell… I may be wrong, but I’m feeling a sudden boost of confidence throughout SA fans. #interesting
— mark boucher (@markb46) November 19, 2015
England are currently completing the limited-overs leg of their tour of UAE against Pakistan, while South Africa are midway through their four-match Test series against India. England will head to South Africa after their ongoing tour.
(With inputs from ANI)
