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Morgan's decision 'very courageous': KP

Pietersen has labelled his former skipper's withdrawal from England's Bangladesh tour as a brave one

Kevin Pietersen has weighed in on Eoin Morgan’s decision to pull out of England’s upcoming tour of Bangladesh, calling it a “very, very courageous decision” from the limited-overs captain.

The England and Wales Cricket Board confirmed on Sunday that Morgan and opening batsman Alex Hales have both made themselves unavailable for next month's tour of Bangladesh.

Having previously suggested Morgan’s international career would effectively be over if he opted out of the Bangladesh tour, Pietersen didn’t criticise the 30-year-old for his decision.

Rather, he took to Twitter to suggest that Morgan’s choice is brave one.

And, considering Pietesen seems to think the decision has effectively spelt the end of Morgan’s international career, he cheekily suggested his former skipper could join him as a Twenty20 gun for hire.

But the 36-year-old insisted he’s not available to take Morgan’s place in Bangladesh, suggesting he already has commitments on the golf course.

Writing for UK newspaper The Telegraph last week, Pietersen suggested if Morgan chose not to travel to Bangladesh, England selectors would all but strike a line through his name.

“Eoin Morgan has no choice but to go to Bangladesh,” Pietersen wrote.

“It is a case of one in, all in so if he does not go he will have a red cross next to his name as far as the bosses at the England and Wales Cricket Board are concerned.

“When Alastair Cook is willing to lead the Test squad it puts huge pressure on Eoin as captain of the one-day team.”

“(It) is his right to take that personal choice, but it will be held against him at some stage in the future, despite any assurances to the contrary."

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The tour, which begins on September 30 and will include two Tests and three ODIs, had been called into question after an attack in July on a cafe in Dhaka in which 20 hostages were killed, including 18 foreigners.

Morgan had already spelled out the reasons for his personal concerns about travelling following his previous experience of security alerts in both India and Bangladesh.

The Irishman said he’d been influenced by a bomb exploding at a 2010 Indian Premier League match and the violent background to a brief spell in the 2013/14 Dhaka Premier Division.

"In 2010 we played an IPL game in Bangalore and a bomb went off in the ground. We immediately left for the airport,” Morgan said after England’s T20I loss to Pakistan at Old Trafford.

“So that was an instance. Another one was (in) Bangladesh playing domestic cricket during political elections when things were incredibly violent."

"I think ultimately, as I’ve said before, as an individual you need to be comfortable within yourself to focus on cricket.”

"I’ve been to places before where things have become a distraction and it’s only been once or twice when security’s been a distraction and I’ve told myself I’d never put myself in that situation again."

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England director of cricket Andrew Strauss, who’d previously said players had the right to choose if they wanted to tour Bangladesh, admitted the ECB’s disappointment in Morgan and Hales’ withdrawals.

"Whilst we understand and respect Eoin and Alex's decision, we are disappointed that they have made themselves unavailable for selection for the Bangladesh tour," Strauss said.