Former Sri Lanka skipper Sanath Jayasuriya has been left mighty impressed with Virat Kohli’s dedication as he has said the hard-work that the Indian batting sensation puts in before a match has made him such a stand-out performer.
Kohli has been in surreal form this season that has seen him becoming the only player to be in the top three of the ICC Rankings of every format.
Impressed with his batting exploits, Jayasuriya, who was in Mumbai, said: “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.”
After piling up runs in the limited-overs format earlier this year, the India Test captain has continued his red-hot streak in the longest format of the game too. So far, he has scored an impressive 965 runs in 10 Tests at an average of 68.92, with two double centuries.
“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 added.
The legendary cricketer also lavished praise on India’s spin spearhead Ravichandran Ashwin. With 59 wickets in just 10 Tests this year, the off-spinner has played a pivotal role in helping the team performing so well. Virat Kohli’s men have won seven Tests out of 10 this year while drawing the remaining three and the tweaker has been very instrumental in those victories. He has also contributed immensely with the bat and has scored 545 runs with two centuries and three half-centuries.
Speaking about Ashwin, Jayasuriya said: “As an off-spinner, Ashwin has improved a lot and as a batsman too he is doing well which is good for India. He is bowling well and always wants to come up with new strategies which is working well for him.”
Meanwhile, the former opener, who is currently Sri Lanka’s chairman of selectors, urged his cricket board to give the youngsters an extended run to prove themselves. Sri Lanka has struggled to perform well in the recent times after the retirement of stalwarts like Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardene and Jayasuriya feels that backing the new players is must during the transition period.
“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 concluded.