LONDON: Kevin Pietersen has slammed England captain Alastair Cook as ‘selfish’ for playing down his team’s chances of winning next year’s World Cup.

Cook’s side beat India by 41 runs on Friday to salvage some pride after an emphatic defeat in the one-day series, but former England batsman Pietersen is still frustrated by what he sees as a negative attitude in the national team hierarchy.

He believes Cook is keen to take a low-key approach to the World Cup in Australia and New Zealand to avoid heaping further pressure onto his own shoulders after his poor one-day displays, which prompted several ex-England stars to call for him to step down as limited overs skipper.

“I think it is selfish that the captain is not talking positively about winning the World Cup,” Pietersen wrote in his Daily Telegraph column on Saturday.

“In Alastair Cook’s own words it is ‘far-fetched’ to believe we can win the tournament. I just do not buy that. It is also nonsense to think we do not have time to make changes that could transform England’s chances.”

Pietersen revealed that the lack of positivity going into next year’s tournament is especially galling after the Ashes schedule was amended to improve England’s chances.

The controversial batsman was axed after that dismal Ashes campaign after falling out with several members of Cook’s team.

Meanwhile, Cook admitted his side had more ‘questions than answers’ confronting England after their 3-1 one-day series.

Friday’s win was what embattled skipper Cook desperately needed.

Asked if he had been told if he would be in charge for the Sri Lanka tour, Cook said on Friday: “No, I haven’t.”

England came into this match on the back of a nine-wicket hammering at Edgbaston on Tuesday.

Reflecting on the change between games, Cook said: “We did a lot of things very well, and a lot of things we know we had to do and haven’t been doing in previous games — like one of those guys, top four or five going on and getting a big score, and then the others can support him.

“Joe Root obviously was the difference. It was a fantastic hundred ... to score a run-a-ball on that wicket. You saw a lot of the other guys struggle to do that. If we do that, we’re a tough side to beat.”

Published in Dawn, September 7th, 2014