Rising Pune Supergiant star batsman MS Dhoni may be struggling, but skipper Steve Smith has backed the franchise's former skipper.

Dhoni has scored only 61 runs from five games so far. On him, Smith was quoted as saying in a Times of India report, "I am happy where MS is at the moment. He is playing the ball well in the nets. And as they say form is temporary, class is permanent, MS is a class player. He hit a monster of a six in the last game and we can see he is looking to find his groove. Hopefully we can see him making him his mark."

Smith had headed to Dubai for a short break. On it, he explained, "It has been going on for a while now, playing four back-to-back Tests in India and then obviously the IPL, so the idea was to get a little away from the game for a while. Everyone around the world plays so much of cricket.

“The schedule is getting busier and busier, but you get used to it and I think you have to try and make the most of the little breaks you get. For me, the six days break was about just getting away for a little bit to get refresh mentally and relax," he added speaking at an interaction at the team hotel.