Mumbai: Former Sri Lankan captain Sanath Jayasuriya praised Virat Kohli’s dedication and professionalism, and credited his hard work for his recent match-winning performances.

"Virat is a dedicated player. He practices and trains hard before every match. He is always concentrating on his game and that is what you need. 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 was quoted as saying by Mid-day.

The Indian Test skipper has been in terrific form this year. Kohli has scored 965 runs in 10 Tests at an average of 68.92 in 2016. The Delhi lad recently also moved up to a career-best no. 3 position in ICC Test batsmen rankings.

Jayasuriya was also full of praise for Ravichandran Ashwin, India’s biggest match-winner.

"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 are working well for him," said the former Sri Lanka captain.

Jayasuriya is rated as one of the greatest all-rounders of modern day cricket. The southpaw amassed over 13,000 runs in ODIs and also took 323 wickets.