Sri Lanka legend Sanath Jayasuriya praises Virat Kohli: 'Team India is in rhythm'

Legendary Sri Lanka batsman Sanath Jayasuriya has praised Indian Test skipper Virat Kohli for his captaincy claiming that Kohli is leading from the front and that has helped the team settle into a rhythm. The Delhi batsman has had a fantastic start to his captaincy career winning 14 games in just 22 matches.

Under captain Kohli India have won five successive Test series starting with their 2-1 win over Sri Lanka in 2015 followed by a 3-0 series sweep of South Africa at home, a 2-0 win over West Indies in the Caribbean and the 3-0 thrashing of New Zealand at home.

The 28-year-old skipper has scored 1,215 runs in 2016 at an average of 75.93 with four hundreds and two fifties to his name. And, in the recently concluded series against England, Kohli was the leading run-scorer from either side with 655 runs with two hundreds and two fifties. The series also saw him register his career best score of 235.

"Team India is in rhythm. Defeating even a strong team like England comfortably. He (Kohli) is a good captain and marshalling bowlers well. He himself is delivering good performances", Jayasuriya said, as quoted by Indian Express.

The former Sri Lanka skipper, who scored 6,973 runs in 110 Tests and 13,430 in 445 One Day Internationals (ODIs) during his 22-year old career, is part of the exclusive 300-run club in the five-day game. He reached the mark during 1997 when he bludgeoned against India becoming the first Sri Lankan to pass the 300 mark.

He also praised Karun Nair, who became the latest entrant to the exclusive club when he scored an unbeaten 303 against England in the fifth Test at Chennai.

"It's not an easy job. One has to have tremendous patience to reach such a milestone."

India are currently taking a much deserved rest with their next assignment being the three-match ODI series with the first game scheduled to take place on 15 January at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Pune.