Bhubaneswar, Oct. 22 -- Premier League football club Manchester United had used a picture of former England captain Kevin Pietersen to help spike interest for the ongoing T20 World Cup in Australia. However, things became controversial when Pietersen asked the club owners to immediately take the post down.

The former English cricketer even slammed the club and its manager Erik ten Hag for the treatment of Cristiano Ronaldo . Subsequently, the post was deleted.

"It's T20 World Cup . We've welcomed cricketing legends, played at icc venues and met up with plenty of heroes over the years," Manchester United had written in their Instagram post.

However reacting to the post, Pietersen wrote, "Please take my picture down? I don't want an asso...