Former England opening batsman Graham Gooch has hailed protege Alastair Cook for his promising start to Test captaincy.

England lead hosts India 2-1 with one match remaining in the series and Cook has scored centuries in all of the three Tests since being named permanent skipper.

In doing so, the Essex opener surpassed 7,000 Test match runs and became England's all-time leading century-maker in the same format.

Gooch believes that those are remarkable milestones for a player of Cook's tender age and feels that the side are fortunate to have him as their leader.

"To estimate that someone will have the sort of record and status he has in the game at the age of 27 - 28 on Christmas Day - is difficult to gauge. But he has always been an impressive young man, mature beyond his years," said Gooch.

"He has had a good start. He's led this team really well. He's still learning as a captain, and he'll continue to develop.

"There'll be highs and lows along the way, but he'll take them equally and move forward. English cricket is lucky to have a player like him at the head of its national team."

Gooch has worked with Cook at both national and domestic level, having tutored the prolific batsman at Essex before taking up his England coaching role.