Virat Kohli has had a great influence on the team, says Rohit Sharma

Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma have been the lynchpin of the Indian team in the past few years

Indian opener Rohit Sharma was ruled out of the Test series against England earlier this week following an injury to his right upper quadriceps tendon. The Mumbaikar is set to travel to London next week to get some medical attention and is likely to undergo a surgery which may well keep him out of action for the next ten to twelve weeks. The 29-year old was in Mumbai recently and praised Virat Kohli during an exclusive interview with Times of India.

Rohit said that he was pretty much comfortable under Kohli's captaincy in Tests and had no issues with his batting position in the Test team. He went on to add that Kohli, as a captain, has had a tremendous influence on him and the team. "His influence on the team, and not just me, is great," he said.

The talismanic opener went on to say that Kohli is identical to MS Dhoni in promoting the youngsters and making them comfortable. He was quoted by the Times of India as saying, "I think he's someone who believes in pushing and backing players. It's what MS Dhoni used to do. I think every captain would want a player to have a good run and settle down. If your captain is on your side and gives you freedom then that's all that matters."

Talking about Kohli's experience as Test captain he said, "He's still new to captaincy so it's going to take him some time to settle." However, Rohit was quick to point out that the current Indian Test team had taken up the challenge of the traditional format of the game after taking over the mantle from some of the former Indian legends.

Rohit also talked about his injury and stated that though the timing of the injury was unfortunate, it didn't really pose a threat to his career. He was quoted by the Times of India as saying, "Yes obviously it's very disappointing. I don't want to think too much about it because there's nothing much I can do. It's not like this is the end of my career. But yes, the timing of the injury was unfortunate."

Also read: Virat Kohli: A management study like none other

Kohli's record as a Test captain has been pretty impressive. Of the 17 Test matches that he has captained so far, the team has registered a win on 10 occasions, a draw in five matches with just two losses. Though he may be young to the challenge of captaining the Test side, the numbers that he has garnered so far has caught everyone's eyes.