King Kohli reclaims his throne

Virat Kohli celebrates his century on Day Three of the Perth Test against Australia last Sunday. Imaging/Sunil H

"I have said this before, Virat Kohli doesn't need us, we need him." With these 13 words, Jasprit Bumrah added a few more million fans to his already burgeoning collection, showing himself to be not just a fabulous bowler, but also an excellent leader more than happy to share the credit around in his moment of tremendous glory.

Bumrah was unsurprisingly the Player of the Match for his heroics in India's commanding 295-run drubbing of Australia in the first Test. While his sustained brilliance with the ball is great news for the visitors, of as much significance is the return to run-making ways of Kohli, the former captain who came into this tour with a cloud hanging over his head.

Struggles against spin

Kohli's international form through 2024 hasn't been overwhelming. He had just two half-centuries across formats in 25 innings, the crowning glory being his Player-of-the-Final 76 against South Africa in the title round of the T20 World Cup in late June. As much as the lack of big runs, his vulnerability against the turning ball had become a talking point, especially after he mustered just 93 runs in six home innings against New Zealand, 70 of them in the second knock alone in the first Test in Bangalore.

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Having been on four previous Test tours of Australia that had netted him six centuries, Kohli was always going to loom as a central figure this time around too, his recent travails notwithstanding. The consensus was that away from the turners that have been his bugbears in the immediate past, he would rediscover his mojo, and that too in a country that has bestowed on him great success as well as a larger-than-life status.

His preparations were immaculate, but then they had been so even in India when the runs weren't coming. But class will out, and that's what transpired at the Optus Stadium on Sunday when he ended a 16-month wait for a Test ton with a sparkling unbeaten 100 in India's second innings.

Classic revival

In the absence of Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill, which ensured three first-time Test batters in Australia in the top six, the onus was on Kohli, as much as KL Rahul and Rishabh Pant, to shore up the innings. All three of them delivered, none more numerically pronounced than Kohli, whose 30th Test ton was a throwback to the past when he made the bowlers do his bidding and gradually shifted through the gears after getting his eye in.

Undone in the first innings by the steepling bounce Josh Hazlewood generated on the first morning, Kohli was more at home two days later in slightly becalmed conditions, standing a little closer to the crease, not committing totally to the forward press and therefore able to play the ball later and closer to his body. His march from 50 to 100 in just 49 deliveries was selfless and frenetic with a declaration looming and by the end, the swag was back, the silken touch was unmistakable. With four Tests remaining, Kohli and India couldn't be more delighted. Australia, meanwhile, have been forewarned.