Twiplomacy works for Kevin Pietersen

Even as suspense builds over scheduling and venue of Indian Premier League 7, there was another row between Government of India officials and Kevin Pietersen. The former English skipper has taken to Twitter to seek explanation from India's Ministry of External Affairs regarding his visa for which his passport has been in the Indian High Commission in London for the past 10 days.

"Trying to travel to India urgently & the Indian Embassy has had my passport for 10 days for a 24hr service, Help," the Delhi Daredevils most expensive overseas player tweeted on Monday afternoon, asking the MEA to help.

Delhi Daredevils, who are building their team from scratch, bought controversial Pietersen for a whopping Rs 9 crore. Pietersen is supposed to meet Daredevils' top officials before the start of the IPL season to chalk out few details over the next few days.

Pietersen tweet did the trick as MEA spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin responded to his tweet within the next few hours. "Good news. Twiplomacy works!! Necessary clearance just received from Sports Ministry. Mission to grant visa soon. C u in India soon," the news of visa clearance came as a relief for the Delhi camp.

Before Twiplomacy, Pietersen also posted a small video online for his Daredevils' fans. "I am super excited to be part of this season. We got a very young squad and hope we win some silverware this season," he said in a message.

Pietersen, who was sacked by England after the Ashes whitewash Down Under, has more than 1.6 million followers on Twitter. He has been a regular traveller to India, and it is hard to explain why it took so long to process his visa application.