Pietersen has never opened in international cricket and while the new ball will largely be neutered on the slow Asian pitches, his idiosyncratic technique, based on confidence and eye rather than precision, will make him more susceptible to its caprices than most.
So far, the move appears to have got off to a promising start following Friday’s 66 in a warm-up game against Pakistan in Fatullah. The protracted nature of this World Cup is designed to ensure the safe passage of the leading eight teams into the knockout stages, which begin on March 23, so he will have plenty of opportunity to nail the role.
The challenge will certainly appeal to the alpha male in Pietersen while Flower will be hoping it invigorates him following his recent under-performance in the format that first brought him to the world’s attention.
Yet there are caveats. Spin is likely to play the decisive role in this World Cup and while Pietersen will no doubt be used to bowl his share, he is less likely, as England’s best player of spin now that Eoin Morgan is out with a broken finger, to be at the crease when it is used in the middle 30 overs.
England’s opening partnership has long been in flux with Strauss having had 13 partners in 77 internationals. With an unconvincing Matt Prior the last of them, Flower clearly felt something had to be done for this World Cup despite the lack of bedding-in time.
England have long under-utilised the powerplays at the start of the innings and this is a move to address that. Yet, they could prove less important than those middle overs in this World Cup, at least where Strauss’s team are concerned.
England’s bowling unit has most conditions covered especially when supported by the best fielding unit in world cricket, though, as Rizwan Cheema showed with his 93 against them for Canada, there is no margin for complacency.
In James Anderson, Stuart Broad and Tim Bresnan, they also have as savvy a trio of “start” bowlers, as opposed to “death” ones, as there is in the tournament.
They should shackle opponents enough to ensure not many get flying starts, which in turn reduces the need for their own rapid response from the batsmen and its associated risks.
The worry is that Pietersen will be out trying to take advantage of the fielding restrictions before the tweakers even come on.
A glance through the squads of India and Sri Lanka reveals almost half of the side bowl spin, a major fear for England given how poorly they played it in Australia.
A middle order of Jonathan Trott, Ian Bell and Paul Collingwood does not exactly scream dominance against the turning ball especially on a sluggish track, which is why Morgan, with his huge and cheeky repertoire of shots, is such a big loss.
For that reason, scoring five to six runs an over off the tweakers without losing too many wickets is likely to be England’s biggest challenge, not blitzing 90 from the first two powerplays.
It is the crucial nature of that particular component that sees two of the home sides, India and Sri Lanka, installed as favourites.
Not only do they have the best spinners in the tournament – Harbhajan Singh and Muttiah Muralitharan heading a plethora of them – they have the best players of it too, with Sachin Tendulkar and Mahela Jayawardene the doyens among many masterful batsmen.
Possessing the means, however, does not guarantee success and since its inauguration in 1975, the World Cup, and this is the 10th tournament, has never been won by the home side.
Expectation has crippled the hosts before, most notably Australia in 1992 and South Africa in 2003, but none has more critical mass than that of India’s cricket-obsessed public.
In big football matches they say the effect of playing at home is the equivalent of having an extra player. For India’s cricketers though, that player tends to ride piggyback.
There will be added pressure too to give Tendulkar a send off with a major one-day trophy, something that has so far eluded him during his 22-year career.
South Africa and Australia are the outsiders with the best chance of winning though the absence of a top-flight spinner will surely hamper Australia.
It will be astounding if the quarter-finals are not contested by eight of the nine Test match countries — Bangladesh being the most likely to miss out unless they can progress at the expense of the West Indies.
Thereafter, in the knockout stage, it is who gets the breaks on the day, and night.
Posing huge logistical challenges as its 49 games traverse 13 cities over three countries (Pakistan being deemed too dangerous for outsiders), this could be the last of the unwieldy World Cups.
For the next one, in Australia in 2015, the International Cricket Council has reduced the number of teams from 14 to 10.
There has been an outcry from associate member teams such as Kenya and Ireland, but they will be able to play in an expanded World T20 instead.
But can anything be read into this sudden outbreak of senses from the ICC? In the past cricket’s health has been measured by its World Cups and while such streamlining is likely to make for a better, and in Australia’s case at least, a cheaper competition, it could mean that 50-over cricket’s days are numbered.
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