KP could miss Ashes due to Achilles heel injury

London, June 7 (ANI): England's Ashes hopes may have suffered a potentially devastating blow with their best batsman, Kevin Pietersen, yet to recover from his Achilles heel injury.

The Daily Star quoted team coach Andy Flower as saying that Pietersen's Achilles tendon problem is being carefully nursed through the World Twenty20 and, with just a month to go before the first Ashes Test, England are in serious trouble.

Flower said: "Achilles' are terrible injuries - I had one for about five years when I was playing. They are very difficult to get rid of and can hang around for a hell of a long time. But with our schedules we don't get huge chunks of time off. You need three to four months off to really get rid of it, rather than three or four weeks."

Flower, however, stopped short of admitting Pietersen shouldn't have been passed fit for the World Twenty20 - and should instead have been resting before the all-important Ashes.

"Leading up to the tournament I asked for medical advice whether it would be wiser to leave him out of this tournament. If the advice had suggested we rested him for this period before the Ashes we would have done so. But the advice was 'no we can manage it through the tournament'.

England must win their final group match against Pakistan at The Oval today to prevent the humiliation of crashing out at the first hurdle. (ANI)