'I'm upset' – Pietersen reacts to England's defeat to India and Moeen Ali exit

Kevin Pietersen says he is ‘upset’ and ‘disappointed’ with England’s rotation policy after captain Joe Root confirmed Moeen Ali was heading home following India’s emphatic victory in the second Test in Chennai.

India completed a 317-run thrashing over England on Monday to level the four-match Test series at 1-1 following their surprise defeat in the opening Test.

Moeen was left out of the series opener but replaced Dom Bess for the second match, taking eight wickets and scoring 49 runs, including a destructive 18-ball 43 in the final session of the match.

He will play no further part in the series, however, with England offering every multi-format player a period of rest in a year when the team plays 17 Test matches and competes in a Twenty20 World Cup.

Wicketkeeper-batsman Jos Buttler returned home after the first Test against India, while Jonny Bairstow, Sam Curran and Mark Wood are all yet to feature in the series.

‘I’m pretty upset that England won’t field their strongest team for any of the four Test matches against India,’ Pietersen told Betway.

Rohit Sharma also scored a century on day one of the match and Pietersen believes the India opener ‘set the tone’ for his side.

‘It was quite a gamble from India, because if they’d lost this toss they would have been in danger of going 2-0 down in the series,’ Pietersen added.

‘That said, India played the best cricket in this match and deserved to win. Rohit Sharma’s fantastic innings on day one set the tone and the difference between the sides was clear to see from there.

‘Perhaps India showed up England’s players as not being good enough to compete, but I’m not so sure – I just wish we’d seen England’s best side give this Test match the best possible crack.

‘We’ll have to see what the wicket looks like for the third Test, and what sort of team England produce, but the day-night conditions certainly give the visitors the best chance of securing at least a draw from this series.’

The third Test – a day-night match at the Sardar Patel Stadium in Ahmedabad – starts on February 24.

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