IPL 2016: Kevin Pietersen praises Rising Pune Supergiants skipper MS Dhoni, claims every ball in T20 is an 'event'

Former England captain Kevin Pietersen has heaped praise on his Rising Pune Supergiants skipper MS Dhoni calling him a "leader among leaders" while also claiming that every ball in Twenty20 cricket is an "event". The Pune outfit currently boasts of many former and current International captains in Steve Smith, Faf du Plessis and Pietersen himself.

"It's fun because you are able to draw on resources that you sometimes would never have had and you can draw on experience. We all just get on and just play. MS Dhoni is the skipper, he makes the decisions. All we can do is hand down the information that he can use if he wants to use and we back whatever decision he makes", Pietersen said, according to cricbuzz.com.

"I actually think that the eleven that take the field have to captain themselves. They have got a responsibility to MS and the coaches to captain themselves and the team. So there might be four 'C's next to certain names in the team but I actually think that in T20 cricket, where every ball is an event, everyone is captain," he added.

This is not the first time that Pietersen has praised Dhoni's captaincy, during Pune's first game against Mumbai Indians, Pietersen who was wired up, while talking to the commentators was asked, How does it feel to be in a team with so many captains? "There is only one captain," he replied, "he [Dhoni] is wearing gloves and purple pads."

The Rising Pune Supergiants started their campaign of the 2016 edition of the Indian Premier League brilliantly, winning their first game against the defending champions Mumbai Indians by nine wickets but struggled in their second game against Gujarat Lions losing by seven wickets.

The Pune outfit will look to get back to winning ways against Kings XI Punjab, who they are scheduled to play on 17 April at the Punjab Cricket Association IS Bindra Stadium in Mohali.