Former England batsman Kevin Pietersen has signalled his approval of Joe Root's appointment as national team captain.

The 36-year-old described the decision to name Root as Alastair Cook's successor as "fantastic" but expressed concerns that the responsibility could weigh heavy on him.

"I have loved him ever since his debut. I was batting at the time when the wicket fell and he walked out there with a smile on his face, in India, when we needed to draw that Test match to win the series," Pietersen told talkSPORT.

"Joe walked out there smiling, happy, laughing, joking and said, 'alright lads, what is going on out here'. I thought, 'oh my days, this guy is making his Test debut'.

"I think he has a wonderful, wonderful personality and I just hope captaincy doesn't affect the way he plays because, having been in that role, it can go two ways.

"It can either really help your captaincy because you don't think too much about your game and you do what you need to do and get on with it, or you can think too much about it, put too much pressure on yourself, and it hurts your game."

Pietersen, who briefly captained England in 2008, will rejoin Surrey this summer to play in the Twenty20 Blast.