England coach Andy Flower has confirmed that Kevin Pietersen will open the batting in the upcoming ODI series against Pakistan.

Pietersen was on Tuesday included in a 16-man squad for the four matches, the first of which gets underway in Abu Dhabi on Monday, with the uncapped Jos Buttler and Danny Briggs. Ian Bell, meanwhile, was left out.

The right-handed Pietersen opened the batting in last year's World Cup on the sub-continent, where he averaged 32.75 before an injury cut short the experiment.

The 31-year-old's promotion alongside captain Alastair Cook at the top of the knock means wicketkeeper-batsman Craig Kieswetter will file down the order.

"Kevin is going to be opening the batting for us in this series, and that should be really exciting to watch," revealed Flower.

"We started with him in that position in the World Cup, and unfortunately he got injured and had to go home early. But he showed glimpses of what he could do.

"He is a very, very fine cricketer - a very dangerous cricketer - and someone we'd like to give the option of facing as many balls as possible in the limited-overs game," he said.

"If he stays in long enough, he will win games for us in that position.

Former captain Pietersen heads into the limited-overs series, which will also bring three T20Is, on the back of some poor form in Test cricket recently. He only managed 67 runs from six innings in the three-nil series defeat to Misbah-ul-Haq's men.

"It hasn't worked out well for him at number four recently, but I'm really excited to see him embrace the challenge of opening," added Flower.