Flintoff lauds Dhoni's captaincy

Star England all-rounder Andrew Flintoff has joined the growing list of Indian cricket captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni's admirers, saying the wicketkeeper batsman is a very impressive leader both on and off the field.

Flintoff played under Dhoni for Chennai Super Kings in the ongoing Indian Premier League before a knee injury forced him out of action.

But the Englishman, the costliest player on the Twenty20 event's roster along with team-mate Kevin Pietersen, said he was mighty impressed with what he saw of Dhoni's captaincy during his short stint with Chennai.

"Dhoni is very impressive both on and off the field. He is a very cool-headed guy," Flintoff said.

The talismanic all-rounder said injury might have cut short his IPL sojourn this time around but he is looking forward to be back next year.

"It is great to play in the presence of great players like [Australian] Matthew Hayden. I am looking forward to coming back next year," he said.

Earlier, Hayden had also praised Dhoni's captaincy.

"MS is a fantastic captain and player. MS gets some great power from unorthodox shots. He is a danger in this form, danger in any format really. When he is going he just strikes the ball as hard as anyone on the planet. And these small boundaries ... he is just unstoppable," Hayden had said.