Skipper Virat Kohli wants Hardik Pandya to be India's Ben Stokes

New Delhi: After leading India to their biggest ever overseas win in terms of runs in the first Test match of the ongoing series against Sri Lanka on Saturday, skipper Virat Kohli compared debutant Hardik Pandya to England all-rounder Ben Stokes.

In the Galle Test, Pandya made a quick-fire 50 of 49 balls in the first innings then took a wicket in Sri Lanka's first essay. Thanks to his half-century, Pandya became the fourth Indian batsman to register a 50-plus innings on Test debut against Sri Lanka. He now joined Suresh Raina (120 at SSC, Colombo in 2010), Arun Lal (63 at Chennai in 1982) and Lalchand Rajput (61 at Colombo, SSC in 1985).

The skipper singled out the 23-year-old for special mention, saying Pandya can emulate what Stokes has been doing for England. Interestingly, Stokes – regarded as world's premier all-rounder – hit his fifth Test hundred yesterday against South Africa during second's day play of the third Test at Kennington Oval.

"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.

The young all-rounder didn't get the chance bat in the second innings but produced a brilliant bowling effort albeit without success. And his use of pace and short balls have managed impressed Kohli.

"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.

"He used the bouncer well. He bowls around 135, so he is a great asset and I have mentioned this before as well," Kohli added.

Kohli then highlighted the importance of that 50-run knock from the youngest member of the team.

"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," Kohli explained.

Earlier in the day, Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja took three wickets each to bowl out Lanka for 245 to set up a 304-run victory. Set a target of 550 runs, the hosts innings crumbled despite fighting knocks from Dimuth Karunaratne (97 off 208) Niroshan Dickwella (67 off 94).

The second match of the three-match Test series will be played at Colombo, starting July 3.