India captain Virat Kohli feels that all-rounder Hardik Pandya has all the skill sets required to emulate world's premier all-rounder Ben Stokes.
"I have a lot of faith in him (Hardik) as far as any format is concerned. If he grows in confidence — you see someone like Ben Stokes, what he does for England, brings in great balance as an all-rounder. I see no reason why Hardik Pandya can't become that for India," Kohli said at the post-match press conference.
Kohli singled out Pandya for special mention, praising his second innings bowling apart from his debut half-century.
"In the first innings, he didn't get opportunity to bowl much but I think in the second innings, he bowled really nicely on a wicket that wasn't offering much and he kept it in the right areas," said Kohli.
The skipper was impressed as to how Pandya used the shirt ball and also the speed at which he bowled.
"He used the bouncer well. He bowls around 135, so he is a great asset and I have mentioned this before as well," he said.
His whirlwind 50 in the first innings was the difference between a total of 550 and 600. "We would have been 540-550 in the first innings. He got those 50 runs quickly and that saves you time as well. That gives you another 15 overs to bowl at the opposition. And his fielding is also tremendous."
‘ClINICAl PERFORMANCE’
Happy to have buried the ghosts of a humiliating loss here two years ago, Kohli described his team's massive 304-run win over Sri lanka in the opening Test as a "clinical performance".
"We lost a Test we should have won in 2015. It depleted our confidence. But this time it was a clinical performance two years down the line," Kohli said at the presentation ceremony. "We are an experienced team now, we played good cricket. All bases were covered and I'm really happy with the way things went in this Test," she said.
The India skipper said it was a special win as the bowlers had to work really hard on a wicket that was not offering much help to them.
"The surface did not offer much, and that's why the win is special. Our bowlers had to create openings. It's an example of the skill they possess, and persistent pressure always pays. This wicket needed more hard work than the last wicket we played in Galle," Kohli said.