Calcutta: Delhi DareDevils pacer Wayne Parnell is all praise for his captain Kevin Pietersen, saying that the Englishman’s calmness has rubbed off on his teammates in their IPL campaign so far.

“Pietersen brings his own energy to the team and his calmness rubs off on the other players. If you have a calm captain, you have a calm team as well,” Parnell said after his side’s six-wicket win over Mumbai Indians on Sunday.

“Having confidence helps you and having the backing of the support staff and the captain is massive for any cricketer. Everyone wants to be backed by the leaders, and I feel I have that backing,” he said.

Parnell (1/17) played a big role in Delhi restricting Mumbai to a modest 125 for six, a total which they overhauled in 18.5 overs. The left-arm pacer, however, insisted that it’s all about teamwork.

“I was actually speaking to one of the owners the other day. He mentioned to me that the Delhi DareDevils play for the badge and not for themselves. As a collective bowling unit, we share information. The constant sharing of information between us helps us perform well as a unit,” he said.

With three losses and two wins, Delhi are at the lower half of the table but Parnell said that the team morale was still high after the win over Mumbai.

“It is nice to get some momentum going in to India. I feel we have been playing really good cricket over the past few games.

Most of our losses in the tournament have been close, barring the game against Chennai Super Kings where we were outplayed,” he was quoted as saying by IPL official website.

Parnell, 24, has been in and out of the Proteas side since his debut in January 2009, but the lanky bowler insists that he has matured with time. “Over the last 12 to 16 months, after being out of the national team, I have also learnt to wait for my chances and do well for the team.”