Mumbai, May 30 (IANS): India skipper Virat Kohli has in the last few years taken world cricket by storm and the accolades refuse to stop. But one of the men instrumental in backing him in his initial days as an international cricket is then selector Kris Srikkanth. And the former chief selector has said that Kohli is one of his top selections during his tenure.

Speaking on Cricket Connected on Star Sports 1 Tamil, Srikkanth said: "Virat Kohli, R. Ashwin and Murali Vijay are my top picks as a selector, the way they grew and were groomed, I'm really proud off."

Recently, England great Ian Botham said that Kohli was the perfect guy to lead the Indian team and he would have loved to play against the India skipper.

"Virat takes the game to the opposition, he takes a stand for his players. I would have loved to play against him. He is the right guy to take Indian cricket forward," Botham said while speaking in an online chat session with Playwrite Foundation.

In fact, former England batsman Kevin Pietersen said that he rated Kohli above the legendary Sachin Tendulkar just because of the manner Kohli wins India games while chasing.

In an Instagram live video chat with commentator and former Zimbabwe pacer Pommie Mbangwa, Pietersen said that Kohli gets his pick because of the number of times he manages to complete chases successfully.

"Kohli is a freakshow, his record chasing winning games for India with the amount of pressure he lives under, Smith does not even come close to him," said Pietersen.

He said it is this factor that also puts Kohli above Tendulkar in his books.

"Again, Virat because of his chasing numbers. His chasing numbers are frightening, he averages more than 80 when it comes to chasing, he consistently wins games for India, he keeps on turning the numbers, and this matters to me as to how many games you win for your country," Pietersen said.