English star Joe Root has heaped lavish on Virat Kohli after the Indian skipper’s brilliant knock on the first day of the second Test at Vizag.

The Delhi batsman, who played a gutsy knock on the last day of the first Test to help India draw the game, once again came to the pitch when the team was in trouble. With the team reeling at 22 for 2, another wicket would have put the visitors on top, but the Indian captain added 226 runs with Cheteshwar Pujara to help the hosts recover from the poor start. Pujara was finally dismissed for 119 but Kohli remained unbeaten on 151.

Kohli has already scored two double-centuries this year and looks destined to add another to the list. He has been in phenomenal form this year and is making the most of it.

“I think Virat is always looking to improve his game. You see his form in white ball cricket. His record has been phenomenal over the last 12 months. In Test cricket, he has already done some special things while captaining the side. He is a great leader on the field and he is a good person to learn from, from an opponent’s point of view as well,” Root was quoted as saying by BCCI.tv.

“I think he is obviously a fine player. The way he can construct the innings in both white and red ball cricket and make contributions across the three formats, is really impressive. That’s the way I try to do and hopefully I can emulate that and take it forward for rest of the years,” he added.

Meanwhile, the Indian batsmen have put the visitors on the back foot after finishing the opening day on 317 for 4. Virat Kohli (151*) and R Ashwin (1*) will start the proceedings with the bat on the second day.