England's Alastair Cook backs Kevin Pietersen to prove doubters wrong
Last updated on .From the section Cricket
England one-day captain Alastair Cook says batsman Kevin Pietersen has a huge future as part of his side.
Pietersen has not hit a one-day century for nearly three years and was rested for the 3-0 series win over India.
But he has been recalled for this month's limited-overs tour of India and Cook says he will play a part in England's 2015 World Cup campaign.
Cook said: "It's great to have someone as good as Kev to come back. I'm sure he'll be desperate to make an impact."
Ravi Bopara, Jonathan Trott and Jonny Bairstow all impressed in the series victory over India, leading to doubts about Pietersen's future.
But Cook is confident that the 31-year-old can find the kind of form that he displayed when he burst onto the scene in his native South Africa in 2005.
"He loves proving people wrong," Cook said. "He has had a tough 12-18 months with his form.
"His stats in the last couple of years in one-day cricket haven't been as good as they were in the first part of his career and part of our job as an England management is to try to get him back to playing there because a Kevin Pietersen averaging 50 and striking over 100 is a huge element of an England side.
"We can't ignore a talent like that.
"I see Kevin as a huge part of this one-day side, especially in the 2015 World Cup."
Cook is expecting a much tougher series in India although the world champions are still without Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Zaheer Khan and Yuvraj Singh through injury.
"I certainly think we can beat India but it will be incredibly tough. We need everyone to be playing very well," he added.
"We all know what the one-day crowds are like over there. They love their cricket.
"Delivering our skills when 50,000 or 60,000 people are screaming and when balls are flying all over the place will also be a key factor, but certainly with this squad I think we can do something really special.
"Playing the world champions in their own back yard, it doesn't get much tougher than that."
