Pietersen won't return under Morgan

England captain Eoin Morgan has put an end to the speculations surrounding controversial batsman Kevin Pietersen's return to the national side after his appointment as the new leader of the ODI outfit.

Pietersen was sacked by the England and Wales Cricket Board [ECB] last year in February following England's wretched Ashes series in Australia. Since then, KP has constantly criticised the management for sidelining him. He also claimed the existence of a bullying culture in the England dressing room and also released a much hyped tell-all autobiography.

However, in a recent interview with former Australia captain Ricky Ponting, Pietersen revealed he hasn't given up hopes of returning to international cricket saying he gets along well with Morgan and other current players.

But on Thursday, Morgan who replaced Alastair Cook as the new ODI skipper, made it clear that the situation [regarding Pietersen] remains the same and that he has confidence in the current bunch of players whom he will be leading in the tri-series involving hosts Australia and India and then in the ICC World Cup next month.

"I'm very happy with the group of players that I have - I think this is the best group of players we have to drive the England team forward over the next two months in particular," Morgan told reporters on Thursday. "Kevin's situation hasn't changed over the last year. It's been reiterated over months. It was reiterated before Christmas by the chairman of selectors and I am reiterating it again just to clear it up."

That Pietersen is still harbouring the dream of donning the national colours stems from the fact that Morgan had expressed disappointment following his unceremonious sacking. "I think it is unbelievable in a way, because certainly he could still be playing cricket for England quite easily. It is sad in a way to think that probably the best cricketer I have ever played with is not playing [internationally] any more," Morgan has said in October last year. "A guy I have had huge respect for, for a very long time and learnt a huge amount from isnt playing probably as much as he should be," he said.

However, Morgan seems to have undergone a change of heart since then which was evident from his response to a question on whether Pietersen's return will strengthen the ODI side. "I think that's a terrible question. Kevin is not in the side, he won't be in the side for the foreseeable future, so there's no point in answering that question," he said.

England will take on hosts Australia in the opener of the tri-nation tournament at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Friday which will serve as a warm-up series to the World Cup that starts next month. They have been placed in Group A alongside Australia, Sri Lanka, New Zealand, Bangladesh, Afghanistan and Scotland.