Bell says 'banished' KP deserves chance to earn England recall

England batsman Ian Bell believes that his former team mate Kevin Pietersen deserves the chance to earn a recall into the national side in the future.

Earlier on Tuesday, England's new director of cricket Andrew Strauss informed Pietersen that he wouldn't be considered for selection into the national side due to the existence of 'massive trust issues'.

Despite scoring a brilliant unbeaten 355 for Surrey in the County Championship, the maverick batsman was told he would not play for his adopted country until after the summer's home Ashes series against Australia.

However, Bell said that if Pietersen keeps scoring runs then there could be a position for him in time, insisting that everyone deserves that opportunity with a long summer ahead, the BBC reported.

Bell admitted that he enjoyed some great partnerships with Pietersen in the middle order, adding that they had a good team that won a lot of cricket together. He further said that all such things wouldn't have been possible without trust and without looking after each other and playing well.

Pietersen, a veteran of 104 Test and 136 one-day caps for England, has been out of the national squad since his central contract was cancelled by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) following the team's Ashes washout by Australia in 2014.

The maverick batsman turned down a lucrative Indian Premier League contract with the Sunrisers Hyderabad team to concentrate on his county campaign with Surrey, in a bid to earn an England comeback.

Earlier, incoming ECB chairman Colin Graves had stated that Pietersen could earn a recall to the national side again if he made enough runs in county cricket.