WEL LCOME BACK KP......

England confirm Kevin Pietersen will return to squad for tour of IndiaEng News

 Kevin Pietersen will return to the England squad on the Test tour of India next month – and could be welcomed back into the fold as early as next week.

The announcement was made after a meeting of the England and Wales Cricket Board on Thursday morning, following talks between Pietersen, the team director Andy Flower and several senior players in Oxford this week.

Pietersen flew in for those talks, the key part of the reintegration process announced by the ECB chairman Giles Clarke in Sri Lanka two weeks ago, from South Africa. He returned there on Wednesday night to rejoin the Delhi Daredevils ahead of their next game in the Champions League Twenty20 on Friday.

"We were keen that Kevin should hold a series of face-to-face meetings with team management and senior players before the Test squad departs for the UAE and India next week," said Hugh Morris, the managing director of England cricket.

"The meetings were constructive and cordial and all outstanding issues have been resolved. All the England players and management are now keen to draw a line under this matter and fully focus on the cricketing challenge that lies ahead in India."

The England and Wales Cricket Board's national selector, Geoff Miller added: "We are pleased to welcome a player of Kevin's proven international calibre back into the Test squad for such an important Test series. As we anticipate that Ian Bell will return home for the birth of his first child around the time of the second Test in Mumbai, the team will benefit from having an extra batsman in the squad and all players who were originally selected for the tour will fly out as planned next week. Kevin will join up with the squad as soon as his Champions League commitments are complete."

The exact date of his return to the England set-up depends on the progress made by the Daredevils in the Champions League competition. If they fail to reach the semi-finals, Pietersen would be available to fly out to Dubai with the rest of the squad next Thursday for a training camp on the way to India. If the Daredevils progress to the semi-finals or the final, however, he would fly straight to Mumbai, where England play the first two of their three warm-up matches before the first Test in Ahmedabad which starts on 15 November.

The recall brings to an end an exile of almost exactly two months, since Pietersen was dropped for the third Test against South Africa at Lord's in mid-August for refusing to deny, or explain, reports that he had sent electronic messages which were critical of his captain Andrew Strauss to members of the opposition during the series.

After admitting to sending "provocative" messages, which were regarded as the last straw after he had become an increasingly isolated and divisive figure in the England dressing room, Pietersen was also omitted from the squad for the ICC World Twenty20 in Sri Lanka – where he instead worked as a pundit for ESPN Star Sports.

But after England had been eliminated from the tournament at the Super Eights stage, Pietersen held a joint press conference with Clarke to announce the reintegration process.