England have appointed former Ashes-winning batter Kevin Pietersen to their white-ball coaching team ahead of the 2027 ICC Cricket World Cup. Pietersen, 46, joins as a specialist mentor and will start in the role for upcoming T20 and one-day matches against Sri Lanka. He will also be involved in this winter's tours to Australia and South Africa, before joining the teams for the home series against Pakistan and New Zealand next summer, as well as the 50-over World Cup in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia.

"I've got immense respect for KP and what he's achieved in the game," said England's white-ball head coach Brendon Mc Cullum."He's had an amazing impact on English cricket, so for someone with his experience, knowledge and stature to want to play a role with this team is a fantastic result."

Pietersen is one of England's most successful white-ball batters, being named player of the tournament when they won the T20 World Cup for the first time in 2010. The right-hander scored almost 4,500 ODI runs at an average of 41.32 - bettered only by Joe Root - while in T20 cricket he has the highest average of all batters to hit more than 1,000 runs for England. Pietersen was also one of the first to advocate for England players being allowed to play in the Indian Premier League and other white-ball franchise leagues around the world. Since retiring, Pietersen has enjoyed a successful career as a commentator and content creator while he has mentored in the Indian Premier League for Delhi Capitals.

"I am immensely proud to have been asked to help this team on their journey to win a World Cup in South Africa," said Pietersen."Putting on the England uniform again for the first time since 2014 is a profound honour and a deeply special moment."

England face Sri Lanka in a three-match T20 series beginning 15 September in Southampton. This return marks a remarkable shift for a player who was effectively fired by England 12 years ago amid animosity and acrimony. For England, this is the first step in reshaping the backroom teams in the new era of split coaches, following previous consultants Andrew Flintoff and Kieron Pollard.