Pietersen said he had been approached by the IPL but that no amount of money would tempt him away from England.

"There's no way in this world I'd turn my back on England," he insisted.

"I know there is interest and, yes, there have been offers, etc etc, but it's not something I'm particularly interested in."

The IPL, which starts on 18 April and will clash with the start of the English season, has attracted many of the world's top players.

The biggest international stars will earn huge amounts of money - Australia all-rounder Andrew Symonds was signed for nearly £700,000.

And Pietersen and his England team-mate Andrew Flintoff, who is injured, are of great interest to the IPL organisers because of their flamboyant style

IPL organiser Lalit Modi told BBC Sport on Thursday that "most of the England players" wanted to play in the competition.

But Pietersen, who was born in South Africa and had a four-year apprenticeship in county cricket before being promoted to the Test squad, said his loyalty to England was greater than the lure of a big pay-day.

"Money's not really too important, it's not as if I need money right now. I'm really enjoying doing what I'm doing," he added.

"I love playing for England, I love playing for the spectators. England has given me a fantastic opportunity to a fantastic life at the moment. So I'm fully committed 100% to playing for England, to winning games for England, to scoring thousands more runs for England.

"I love playing for England and there will be nothing that will lure me away from England just yet.

"I'm really enjoying what I'm doing. It's a great challenge, challenging myself against the best players in the world in Test and one-day cricket."

(BBC)

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