NOTTINGHAM (England), June 23: England Twenty20 captain Stuart Broad is confident his side can mount a successful defence of their World Twenty20 title in Sri Lanka this year despite the absence of Kevin Pietersen.

Star batsman Pietersen recently quit all limited overs internationals after officials refused his request to carry on playing Twenty20s while opting out of 50-over one-day games.

England play their first Twenty20 match since South Africa-born Pietersen’s one-day retirement when they face the West Indies at Trent Bridge on Sunday.

“Kevin is a world-class Twenty20 player so of course it is disappointing that he is not with us, but it’s a great opportunity for someone else to put their hand up and stake a claim for that spot,” said Broad, who will aim to celebrate his 26th birthday on Sunday with a victory.

England will now look to a group of inexperienced batsmen to cover the gap left by Pietersen’s absence, with the likes of Alex Hales, Jonathan Bairstow, Jos Buttler and Samit Patel having no more than eight Twenty20 International appearances.

Broad, who with 34 appearances is England’s most capped Twenty20 player, added: “We’ve got an exciting group of players in that changing room and everyone is really excited about getting on that field and doing the job.”

Sunday’s fixture will be one of just four Twenty20s England play before they head to Sri Lanka to begin the defence of their title in September.—AFP