Former England captain Kevin Pietersen disagreed with current skipper Joe Root that Ben Stokes should captain England if he is forced to miss a game against the West Indies.
Joe Root’s wife is due to give birth in July and it means he may miss at least one Test to be played behind closed doors. In his absence, Root backed Vice-captain Stokes to do well; but Pietersen feels Stokes is too important as a player to be given the responsibility of captaincy.
The former captain instead said that he would prefer wicketkeeper Jos Buttler taking over from Root instead. "Do I want to see Ben Stokes change from who he is and the current player he is? Probably not. Jos Buttler would be my guy," he told talkSPORT.
"The entertainers and the guys that have to carry the mantle in the team sometimes aren't the best captains and sometimes struggle with the extra added pressure," he added.
Revealing his own struggles with the leadership of England, Pietersen said, "I struggled with it, I absolutely hated it and I was rubbish. You have to change and I couldn't command the respect of the dressing room."
Root could miss first home Test due to child's birth; backs Stokes for interim captaincy
"I would rather be in the broadcaster chair than in the players' chair because entertainers like atmosphere and you are going to have to build your own atmosphere and dig as deep as you can to try your best and perform in front of a whisper," Pietersen said about the new playing conditions.
He further added "It is going to be hard, especially for cricket. Six hours, when you're in the field and guys are batting and you're 100 overs into an innings, England is going to have to dig deep because it is going to feel like a warm-up game, with no one watching."
(AFP inputs)
