Kevin Pietersen believes that England won the Cricket World Cup because of the decision to fast-track Jofra Archer into the side.
The ECB changed their eligibility rules to allow Barbados-born Archer to qualify to play for England just before the tournament.
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He played a pivatol role in the entire competitionl, taking 20 wickets, and also bowled the super over in the final to see the host nation beat New Zealand in the most dramatic of fashions.
The 24-year-old was also named in the team of the tournament, alongside three of his teammates.
Former England batsman Pietersen told talkSPORT: “People must not underestimate the value of Jofra Archer in that England side. Fast-tracking him in that England side won them that World Cup.
“A guy like Chris Woakes was able to just be under the radar there, Mark Wood came on first change, Jofra Archer bowled the super over yesterday.
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“He is as valuable as anybody in that team. I know Ben Stokes has taken the plaudits and got the man-of-the-match and a lot of the batters, like I did throughout my career, got a lot of the credit the bowlers didn’t.
“Jofra Archer is a very special bowler and there was method in England’s madness to fast track him into that England team.
“I think they could see the value of him and what he could bring to one-day cricket.”
Pietersen believes that Archer must now been included in the Test squad to face Australia in The Ashes, which gets under way next month.
He added: “Some people say it’s his best form of the game and if you actually look at the lines that he bowls…
“The short deliveries he bowls, so he can be aggressive in spells and change his lines to right and left handed batters.
“He is very disciplined in his line and length and it looks like he doesn’t use too much effort in bowling.
“I’ve played both with and against hi, and it looks effortless. It’s like a golfer’s swing.
“You look at his distribution when he drives through the crease. You look at Goughie, he looked like he was stealing hub caps off a moving car when he bowled.”
Pietersen also praised Ben Stokes’ impact, spoke of his admiration for Eoin Morgan’s side and hailed the atmosphere at Lord’s in Sunday’s final as the greatest he’d heard. Listen to the interview in full above.