Pietersen main reason behind England’s struggle, says Ganguly

London: Former India captain Sourav Ganguly has said that England batsman Kevin Pietersen’s failure to pace his innings in the middle overs is one of the major reasons behind tourists’ struggle against the hosts in the ongoing one-day series.

England will go into the fourth one-day in Mohali on Wednesday 2-1 down in the five-match series having lost the last two matches through poor batting. Ganguly said England would have to radically improve to win this series, adding Alastair Cook’s one-day cricket has got better in the past year but Pietersen baffles him since he struggles to pace his innings during a game and that’s why he is under-performing. Ganguly added either Cook or Pietersen would have to bat right through the innings if England is to post big totals, adding if the visitors don’t get past 275 consistently, they will not even get close to beating India. England have been bowled out for 158 and 155 in the past two matches, Pietersen getting out for 42 and 17 when well set, although he did suffer a poor umpiring decision in the last match. ANI