Pietersen 'gutted' over Shehzad's omission for England tour

England batsman Kevin Pietersen has offered his support to his Quetta Gladiators' teammate Ahmed Shehzad after the Pakistan opener was dropped from the national squad for the upcoming tour of England.

Describing Shehzad as a 'standout batter', the 35-year-old England player took to micro blogging website Twitter to express his disappointment over his exclusion.

"Gutted for, @iamAhmadshahzad! Playing the PSL, he was a standout batter & fun lad! How he doesn't get selected is beyond me! #PickTheBest," Pietersen tweeted.

Reacting to the tweet, Shehzad said it was an honour for him to receive support from the player like Pietersen.

"Honour for me that the player like u is worried about my future!!," Shehzad wrote on Twitter.

Earlier, Shehzad, along with Umar Akmal, were axed from the squad over the disciplinary issues by the newly elected national selection committee led by former Pakistan skipper Inzamam-ul-Haq.

"Wherever there will be a disciplinary problem, we will take a step. And you should expect this selection committee to be a little stern on discipline," Inzmam said referring to his decision.

The 35-man training camp for the England tour will begin on May 14 and conclude on June 4 ahead of the tour which starts in July.

Pakistan are scheduled to play four Tests, five ODIs and one T20 international against England from July to September.