Kevin Pietersen claims England are building up a fearsome reputation in world cricket and teams may soon be wary of going head-to-head with them following the Test series demolition job on India (England Evens, India 11/2, Draw 11/8 – 4th Test Match Prices).

Pietersen has played his part in England’s recent success as Andrew Strauss’ men charged to the top of the International Cricket Council rankings for the first time after going 3-0 ahead in their four-Test series against India courtesy of an innings victory at Edgbaston on Saturday.

With one Test to go at The Oval, England are looking to secure a whitewash series win and then push on to prove their status as the number one Test side in the world is not going to be a flash in the pan.

When asked if he felt future opponents will be anxious about facing England, Pietersen (4/6 – Top England Series Batsman) said: “Potentially, yes.

“You look at that engine room – (from) Matty Prior down to number 10, those guys there can score 150 runs and take the game away from you – we’ve seen it a couple of times already in this series.

“If we get ourselves into a bit of a hole at 120 for five or 80 for five we can still get 250-300 – and then back our bowlers to do the business.”