KP ruled out of World T20 ... by captain

England limited-overs captain Eoin Morgan has emphatically ruled out any chance of ostracised batsman Kevin Pietersen being included in the country's World T20 squad for the forthcoming tournament.

In an interview with former England captain Nasser Hussain for The Daily Mail, Morgan was asked if, given his form in the world's various domestic T20 tournaments – most notably with the Melbourne Stars in the KFC Big Bash League – he believes Pietersen should be picked, to which he responded: "That door is completely shut. Kevin will not be picked."

Hussain replied: "That's from you?" To which Morgan answered: "That's from me."

Pietersen's seemingly irresistible form in the recently-concluded Big Bash, in which he was the third-highest run-scorer with 323 runs at a strike-rate of 159.11, including scores of 62 and 74 in the semi-final and final respectively, added fuel to a debate that has now been running for more than two years about the enigmatic batsman's exclusion from England's national team.

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Pietersen, now 35, last wore England colours in the final Test of the 2013-14 Ashes whitewash, having played his final T20 international six months prior to that.

The clamour for Pietersen to add his experience and undeniable batting genius to the England set-up in all three forms of the game has barely dimmed in that time, and as his country prepares for a tournament in which they're not favoured to progress beyond a group that includes South Africa and the past two winners in Sri Lanka and West Indies, he continues to find support.

Fellow Englishman and Stars batsman Luke Wright has led the cries for his inclusion alongside Vaughan, and their standpoint is not unjustified; when England won the World T20 in 2010, Pietersen was at the heart of the success, making 47 in the final and winning Player of the Tournament, and the numbers would indicate he is playing as well as ever.

"(The selectors) won't (pick him) but I would because of the way that he's playing and the level of performance that he's showed," Vaughan said the day after the Big Bash final.

"In front of massive crowds in Australia, his batting won the semi-final and almost the final.

"A year ago he wasn't playing well enough and he was nowhere near the England team.

"But the T20 World Cup starts in a few weeks' time and I personally want the best team out there for England."