Why Australia could have done more to stop Virat Kohli’s return to form and how it may haunt them

Of all the things Australia got wrong in their disastrous Perth defeat, stirring a sleeping giant might have been the most destructive. Virat Kohli, India’s cricket king, defied a run of poor form and difficult conditions to plunder an unbroken century on the third day of The West Test. It is an ominous side for an Australian side already on the back foot in the wake of their first-ever defeat at Optus Stadium and bracing for a full-strength Indian side to reunite in coming weeks. And former Australian great Simon Katich believes the Kohli revival might have been avoidable. The veteran middle-order star faced Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood for just one over each when he first came to the crease on day three, before they were relieved by labouring all-rounder Mitch Marsh. Then Nathan Lyon and Pat Cummins, who battled to nail his length in the second innings, both had a go early in Kohli’s knock. The home attack worn down by Yashasvi Jaiswal on his way to 161 was a far cry from the all-in and high-pressure assaults Kohli is used to. “He looked in ominous form, but I’m sure the Australians would have gone away and looked at how they bowled to him and potentially the options they used to him in the first 15 minutes of his innings,” the Channel 7 expert told The West Australian. “He will be challenged more probably for the rest of the series, but he looks in good touch.” India waited to declare until after Kohli had made his century — his seventh in Australia and second in Perth — which shows just how much it meant to their side for him to get off the chain. As he neared the milestone he battered Marnus Labuschagne’s casual medium-pacers to all parts of the ground and left an adoring home-away-from-home crowd roaring. “It just goes to show that form is temporary and class is permanent, his record in Australia is outstanding,” Katich said. “That speaks volumes about his skill level and ability but also his character, to be able to do it on these shores over and over again and now at 36 year’s of age against a very good attack and in challenging conditions. He will be buoyed by that.” Katich also said Kohli was just part of an Indian team with red-hot footwork on a wicket that demanded being sharp. And it’s something Australia can learn from. “I thought he was looking really sharp with his footwork in that second innings, I thought all the Indian batsmen did, and that was probably the highlight for me, was their footwork was a lot better than ours, which is saying something, given the boys are in their home conditions here,” Katich said. India flew out of Perth on Wednesday and were met by more fans on their way to the airport. Captain Rohit Sharma, who missed The West Test for the birth of his child but landed in Perth on Sunday, is set to bolster their batting line-up for the second Test in Adelaide and Shubman Gill is not far away either. It means Australia will have to battle a stacked top four, which also includes the in-form Jaiswal, for the remainder of the series. Stand-in skipper Jasprit Bumrah denied Kohli was out of form leading into the series, despite the batting great enduring a horror day one where he was dismissed for five and then dropped a simple catch. “Virat scoring runs is always a great sign for us, he didn’t look out of touch in the nets,” he said. “Sometimes when you play on tough wickets you can’t even judge a batsman, he does not spent enough time (at the crease) to know if he is in form or not.” Former Australian captain Michael Clarke said the ton had helped Kohli recapture his swagger and that Australia had a big job on their hands to keep him down for the rest of the summer. “He played the way we know Virat can play. He was sharp, he was switched on, because we knew he needed some runs for his own confidence, so he did the hard work early and then he earnt the right to play his natural game,” he told ESPN. “But the end of his innings, everyone was sitting there saying ‘Virat’s back’, and there’s no doubt about it. “The best players, you don’t want them on top at the start of the series, you want them to have to work their backsides off to get into the series and if they score a hundred by Test match three or four, you sort of accept that because they’re so good. “But to let him get a hundred in that first Test — we have got some work to do to keep him down, because he is full of confidence, he has got that strut back and that is when he’s at his best. “That’s why he’s been the best in the world for a long period of time.” India heads to Canberra for a two-day tour match against the Prime Minister’s XI with a pink ball across the weekend.