Former England skipper Kevin Pietersen, who is known for his straightforward opinion on a range of topics, has predicted that Test cricket will die out by 2026 and there will be as few as five teams playing the longest format.

Taking to Twitter, Pietersen expressed his concerns over the traditional format of the game, mentioning that only a few Test cricket nations, notably India, England, and Australia, will be around by 2026.

According to him, South Africa and Pakistan may stay in the game if they maintain their standards.

"This is painful to tweet but I think this is slowly happening… In 2026 there will only be a few Test Match cricketing nations. ENGLAND INDIA AUSTRALIA Possibly SOUTH AFRICA & PAKISTAN," he tweeted.

Pietersen has little faith in other Test-playing nations such as the West Indies, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh.

However, his post leaving out the inaugural World Test Championship (WTC) champions New Zealand created a bit of uproar.

Notably, the Kane Williamson-led Kiwi side finished second on the WTC 2019-21 points table and ended up beating India in the final at Southampton in June.

When a social media user asked Pietersen the reason to exclude New Zealand from the list, he replied: “Yep! Won’t be around in 2026! No kids want to play Tests! It’s history will help it’s survival with the bigger boards. Nothing against NZ at all. I’m just saying what I’m starting to see.”