Kevin Pietersen has urged England to end Luke Wright’s international exile by naming him in their squad for the World Twenty20.

The Sussex skipper has not played for his country for nearly two years but has been in tremendous form in the shortest format of the game this winter.

Wright was the seventh highest run scorer in Australia’s Big Bash where he helped Melbourne Stars reach the final and has made a flying start to the Pakistan Super League with Quetta Gladiators.

The 30-year-old is unlikely to be included in the England squad for the World Twenty20 in India next month when it is named tomorrow but Pietersen insists he deserves a recall on current form.

Pietersen, a team-mate of Wright’s at Melbourne and Quetta and also when England won the World Twenty20 in 2010, posted a picture of the pair together on social media and wrote: ‘’This guy HAS TO be in England’s T20 squad! Not seen him bat any better!”

Wright won the last of his 101 England limited overs caps in March 2014 in a Twenty20 international against West Indies before pulling out of that year’s World Twenty20 with a side strain.

England have since brought in the likes of Joe Root, Jason Roy, Alex Hales and Ben Stokes as part of a younger team under the captaincy of Eoin Morgan while Wright’s conversion from an all-rounder to specialist batsman has further reduced his chances of a recall.

But Wright’s form with the bat since dropping out of the England set-up has been hard to ignore with his aggressive strokeplay seeing him average over 50 for Sussex in the NatWest T20 Blast for the past two seasons.

Wright also has vital experience of dealing with the pressure of performing in a World Twenty20 having featured in the tournament four times before, including that famous victory in Barbados six years ago.

Sussex all-rounder Chris Jordan is expected to be named in the squad tomorrow but Morgan has ended any faint hopes Pietersen might have had of a recall.

Pietersen’s exile from the England team since the end of the 2013-14 Ashes has been well documented, with ECB director of cricket Andrew Strauss citing a “massive trust issue” in ruling out a return last year.

The controversial batsman’s outstanding form in the Ram Slam T20 in South Africa and the Big Bash led to speculation of a recall for the 35-year-old in the shortest format of the game.

But Morgan said: “That door is completely shut. Kevin will not be picked. That’s from me.”

One Sussex player who will definitely be heading to India next month is Matt Machan who was named in Scotland 15-man squad yesterday.

The 24-year-old from Brighton starred in the 50-over World Cup for his adopted country last winter before taking a break from international cricket during the summer to focus on cementing his place in the Sussex side.