November 19, 2007	Monday	Ziqa’ad 08, 1428

LONDON, Nov 18: England batsman Kevin Pietersen has rejected the chance to join the rebel Indian Cricket League.

Fellow England internationals Vikram Solanki, Paul Nixon, Chris Read and Darren Maddy have all signed up for the Twenty20 competition as they try to play their way back into Peter Moores’ plans.

But the tournament has not been sanctioned by the world’s cricket boards and the Indian board has created the Indian Premier League as an alternative.

England’s most dangerous one-day player Pietersen has therefore refused to put his international future at risk. “I was approached with an offer to play in India and it was a very lucrative one - but I kicked it straight into touch,” Pietersen said in the News of the World. “It would be ridiculous for me to put my England career in jeopardy after all the work I have put in.

“There may come a time when tournaments like this sit in with our schedule and if the authorities were happy for us to play we would have another look at it. But at the moment it’s a no-go area.”

England have their Test series against Sri Lanka to focus on in the meantime and the Hampshire star has even started supporting the old enemy in the run up to the first Test.

He said, “The Aussies are playing Sri Lanka in a Test series Down Under at present and could do us a real favour by knocking the Sri Lankans’ confidence before we play them.” —Agencies