New Delhi, Apr 18 (IANS): Former England skipper Kevin Pietersen believes M.S. Dhoni is the greatest-ever captain because of the weight of expectations he had to deal with, both while captaining India and Chennai Super Kings in the Indian Premier League (IPL)

"It will be very difficult just with the weight of expectation to go against M.S. Dhoni because of what everybody expects from him, how he has to live his life and what he has been through captaining India and then captaining the CSK," Pietersen said while speaking on Star Sports 'Cricket Connected' show when asked how difficult it is to go against Dhoni as greatest ever captain.

Under Dhoni's leadership, India won the inaugural edition of the 2007 World T20. They also went on win the 50-over World Cup in 2011.

It was again Dhoni who led the Men in Blue to the 2013 Champions Trophy title and it was under him only that India reached the top of the Test team rankings.

Dhoni, 38, has not played for India since the 2019 World Cup where they had to suffer a heart-wrenching defeat in the semi-finals against New Zealand.

When it comes to the IPL, Dhoni has led Chennai Super Kings to title victory thrice in 2010, 2011 and 2018.

The 2020 IPL edition was supposed to be his comeback event but it has been postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic which has claimed more than 1.4 lakh lives across the world thus far.

In India, more than 400 people have lost their lives to coronavirus and the entire country is currently under an extended nation-wide lockdown till May 3.