01 December,2016 11:23 AM IST | | Rohan Koli
Ex Sri Lanka captain Sanath Jayasuriya said he is very impressed with India Test skipper Virat Kohli's growth as a cricketer. The southpaw felt pre-match training and hard work Kohli puts in before every game has made him better
Sanath Jayasuriya and Virat Kohli
Sanath Jayasuriya and Virat Kohli
Former Sri Lanka skipper Sanath Jayasuriya said he is very impressed with India Test skipper Virat Kohli's growth as a cricketer. The southpaw felt pre-match training and hard work Kohli puts in before every game has made him a better player.
"Virat is a dedicated player. He practises and trains hard before every match. He is always concentrating on his game and that is what you need," Jayasuriya said on the sidelines of the release of 'A Tall Order' by entrepreneur Kapil Pathare in the city yesterday.
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Kohli has been consistent with the bat this year, scoring 965 runs in 10 Tests at an average of 68.92. "He is a very professional cricketer. You have a big chance of performing well when you do all the hard work before the match," Jayasuriya, who scored 6,973 and 13,430 runs in Tests and ODIs respectively, added. India have won 12 Tests under Kohli's leadership. Jayasuriya also had a word of praise for India of-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin who has also been impressive with the bat during the ongoing Test series against England. "As an off-spinner, Ashwin has improved a lot and as a batsman too he is doing well which is good for India.
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He is bowling well and always wants to come up with new strategies which is working well for him," Jayasuriya pointed out. Sri Lanka's chairman of selectors, Jayasuriya urged his country to back its young and inexperienced players in tough times as the team currently are going through a transition stage after the retirement of stalwarts like Mahela Jayawardene, Kumar Sangakkara and Tillakaratne Dilshan.
"It is very difficult to replace players like Sangakkara, Jayawardene and Dilshan. They had experience of 15-16 years. That was a big task when they appointed me chairman of selectors (in April). I took the risk and we did well against Australia at home and won the Test series 3-0," he said.
