England have appointed former Ashes-winning batter Kevin Pietersen, 46, as a specialist mentor in their white-ball coaching team ahead of the 2027 ICC Cricket World Cup. Pietersen will begin with the upcoming three-match T20 series against Sri Lanka in Southampton on 15 September and will join the squads for this winter's tours to Australia and South Africa, the home series against Pakistan and New Zealand next summer, and the 50-over World Cup in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia in the autumn. Brendon McCullum, England's white-ball head coach, said he has "immense respect for KP" and called the appointment "a fantastic result." Pietersen was player of the tournament when England won the T20 World Cup in 2010, scored almost 4,500 ODI runs at an average of 41.32, a figure bettered only by Joe Root for England, and holds the highest T20 average among England batters with more than 1,000 runs. The article notes Pietersen's past dressing-room fallouts, including being accused of divisiveness and being dropped in 2012 after sending "provocative" texts to opposing players, for which he apologised to then captain Andrew Strauss and returned after a reintegration period. Since retiring in 2014, Pietersen has worked as a commentator and content creator and mentored Delhi Capitals in the Indian Premier League. Pietersen said he is "immensely proud" to help the team and is excited to "get in the trenches and work relentlessly hard" to maximise the squad's potential.
