Former England captain Mike Gatting believes Kevin Pietersen's return to the team could be an accident waiting to happen.
Pietersen was named in the Test and one-day squads for the winter tour of South Africa, even though he has still not recovered fully from the infection he contracted after undergoing surgery on his Achilles tendon in July.
Skipper Andrew Strauss expects Pietersen to be back in action during the five-match one-day series, which lasts from 20 November until 4 December, and to play a full part in the following four-match Test series.
But Gatting believes it is unrealistic to expect England's best batsman to reach peak form so soon.
"KP is a concern," said Gatting, who played 79 Tests for his country. "Even if he returns to the side during the one-dayers, he won't have played any cricket for four months.
"Against one of the best teams in the world, it will be a big ask to slot straight back in, even for a player of KP's ability. He wasn't in great nick when he came out of the team, so who knows if he'll be able to hit top form straight away?"
But Strauss is confident Pietersen will quickly overcome any rustiness. "Kevin should definitely be ready by the start of the Test series," he said. "Whether he'll be ready for the start of the one-day matches remains to be seen, but that's the kind of timescale we're looking at.
"Let's hope he recovers quicker than we expect, but it's not a gamble to include him. Mentally, he will be fresh and physically, hopefully, he'll be right. He will look to hit the ground running in South Africa."
Meanwhile, Sussex face an uphill struggle to qualify for the second stage of the Twenty20 Champions League after being beaten by 35 runs by New South Wales in Delhi.
