England batsman Alastair Cook said the decision to take away the team’s leadership from him ahead of the World Cup was probably the wrong one.

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Speaking at the launch of the Emirates Airline T20 tournament, Cook said the team lacked real leadership when the going got tough in Australia.

When asked if he felt vindicated in any way after seeing the England team struggle at the World Cup, Cook said: “I am always going to have a biased view on that. I was there three and a half years. 

“We got to the No1 spot in Tests, got to the final of the Champions Trophy. Those are things I am very proud of. I was looking forward to leading the side in the World Cup. I understand the pressure I was under.

“But you saw the dangers in Australia, making such a big decision so close to the World Cup. It did look like the lads were shell shocked and that’s when you need real leadership. Whether I would have made a difference, I don’t know.

“I was fully confident we would have got out of that group. The opportunity was taken away from me and the selectors made that decision which they thought was best for English cricket. In hindsight it’s probably proven them wrong, but it’s very easy to say that now.”

Regarding the possible return of discarded batsman Kevin Pietersen, Cook said he didn’t see it happening. “I think it is very unlikely to see KP back in English cricket. It’s been a hell of a lot of stuff happening with his book and all that kind of stuff. It’s a long way back for him,” Cook added.

Cook also felt there was no need to make any drastic changes in the English cricket set-up. “We have to very careful saying we are totally behind. Last 15 to 20 months have been tough but before that we had fantastic success. Let’s not totally slag off English cricket because of what has happened over six weeks in the World Cup.”