R Ashwin heaps praise on Virat Kohli, calls him 'thorough captain'

India off-spinner R Ashwin has heaped praise on Test skipper Virat Kohli, calling him a "thorough" captain and honest leader. Ashwin, who picked up the CEAT award for International Bowler of the year recently, has been in brilliant form, especially in the longer formats of the game.

The Chennai-born spinner, who has been rested for India's upcoming tour to Zimbabwe, has highlighted the freedom that Kohli gives him on the field, which helps him express himself in a better way. In particular, he identified the authority the captain gives him in setting his own fields, which gives the bowler the extra confidence.

"He gives me enough freedom to express myself and take control of what fields I want to set and how I want to bowl. We do a lot of team meetings before the game, there's a lot of honesty around. We have a lot of conversations, and conversations generally lead to lot of clarity", he said, as quoted by Firstpost.

"Virat is a very thorough captain. He does his homework before the game."

The 29-year-old, who is currently ranked second in the ICC Player Rankings for Test Bowlers, choose not to get into the discussion on the identity of the next India coach, claiming he will get along with his job irrespective of whoever takes the post.

"As players we have the responsibility of working closely with whoever is being given that opportunity. We need to make sure that our goal in one. I would not like to speculate over names."

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) recently opened up the application process to select the head coach of the Indian cricket team, with the deadline for submitting the applications set for 10 June.

Sanjay Bangar, who served as the batting coach in the past, was named as the head coach for the Zimbabwe tour, where India play three Twenty20 Internationals and three One Day Internationals (ODI) starting 11 June.