Virat Kohli Survives Mitchell Johnson Sledging to Slam Ninth Hundred

Virat Kohli played some exquisite shots to bring up his ninth hundred and third of the series as India powered on to 334/3 against Australia on Day 3 of the Boxing Day Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. (Scorecard | Blog)

Kohli took 166 balls to bring up his ton and shared a solid stand for the fourth wicket with Ajinkya Rahane, who was aggression personified on a flat pitch. Rahane had brought up his third hundred earlier. ( Also read: Virat Kohli hits out at Aussies on and off the field)

Kohli had lost some of his concentration after a confrontation with Mitchell Johnson. There were words exchanged and Kohli played some uncharacteristic shots but perhaps Lady Luck helped him survive testing period. Anushka Sharma is in Melbourne for the Boxing Day Test and her presence would have done Indian cricket's angry young man a world of good. After bringing up his hundred with a boundary, Kohli blew a kiss to Anushka in the stands.

Australia had piled on 530 in their first innings and Ravichandran Ashwin had promised a befitting reply by the Indian batsmen. Much was expected of overnight batsmen Murali Vijay and Cheteshwar Pujara as play resumed on Sunday. However, Pujara fell to Ryan Harris off the second ball of the day, forcing Kohli to walk in earlier than he would have liked. (Kohli is India's Future: Ganguly)

However, unlike the Gabba Test, the Delhi dasher looked prepared and played some crisp shots against the likes of Mitchell Johnson, Harris, Josh Hazlewood and Nathan Lyon. Kohli had got off to a dream start in the series, hammering twin hundreds on debut as Test captain at the Adelaide Oval before returning scores of 19 and 1 in the Brisbane Test.

Despite the negative headlines over his reported arguments with Shikhar Dhawan on Day 4 at Gabba, Kohli looked unperturbed as he took the Australian attack on. Thanks to him and Rahane, India scored 116 runs off 29 overs in the first session.

Kohli looked well set for his maiden double hundred but Rahane's exit led to a collapse of the middle order. The two had shared a mammoth 262-run stand before Rahane perished to Lyon for 147. Thereafter, Kohli set the MCG on fire, continuing to attack Johnson. However, he was snared by Johnson off what turned out to be the last ball of the day, allowing Australia to claw back in the match.

Before India left for the Australian tour, Kohli had spoken of the need to be aggressive and he has so far lived up to his own words. Barring the Gabba failure, Kohli's batting has been a feast for sore eyes. Many former cricketers, including the inimitable Sourav Ganguly feel Kohli is India's captain in waiting given Mahendra Singh Dhoni's poor record as Test skipper overseas.