'Call him the king': Virat Kohli sends 'ominous' warning to Aussies as India dominate day three
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It felt like Australia finally had a breakthrough, then Virat Kohli came to the party.
On day three of the first Test in Perth, India began with dominance and ended that way too, both with bat and ball in hand.
But it was Kohli who wasted no time reminding Australia just how dangerous he still is as he notched up a drought-breaking century, allowing India to declare and send the hosts in to bat out the final overs of the evening.
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Kohli, who proved he's still got it at the age of 36 and after 16 games without reaching three figures at Test level, said it wasn't about him.
"I just wanted to contribute to the team scores, I'm not a guy who wants to just hang around for the sake of it," he said on Fox Cricket after India declared.
Virat Kohli of India celebrates reaching a century during day three. Getty
His wife, Anushka, who is in attendance at Optus Stadium, proved his inspiration.
"I take pride in performing for my country and it just feels amazing and the fact that she's here makes it even more special," he said.
Kohli's heroics earned praise from Indian legend Ravi Shastri, who admitted that it was a major warning sign for Australia.
"I doubt that an overseas player has come to Australia in the last 15 years and played in this fashion," Shastri said on Fox.
"The big stage, the big ground, one of the bounciest pitches in the world … he plays two Test matches and gets two hundreds.
"To set up the series, they call him the king - to get a hundred in the very first Test match, it's a terrific signal for India and it's ominous from an Australian point of view."
But before Kohli could stamp his authority, it was 22-year-old teammate Yashasvi Jaiswal who had the cricket world talking.
Jasiwal smacked 161 off 293 and was devastated when he was finally removed by Mitchell Marsh earlier in the day.
A short period of dominance saw Australia's bowlers on their feet, taking three wickets for eight runs across 18 balls.
Rishabh Pant (1 off 4) and Dhruv Jurel (1 off 6) fell after Jaiswal, but Australi couldn't do much more after Kohli hit the crease.
After India declared with a lead of 533 runs, Australia made the brave call to send in both opening batsmen, with less than 30 minutes of play left in the day.
Cue the devastation for the host nation.
It was debutant Nathan McSweeney who fell victim first, removed for a duck by Jasprit Bumrah after the ball kept low, forcing him to be stuck in his crease and given out lbw.
Nathan McSweeney failed on day three for Australia. Getty
Pat Cummins (2 off 8) failed as a nightwatchman, as he probed forward and lacked footwork to be caught at second slip by the man of the afternoon, Kohli.
Marnus Labuschagne (3 off 5) was sent in for the dying minutes of day three, but he also failed with bat in hand, removed lbw without offering a shot by Bumrah again.
Australia (3-12) trail India by 521 runs after day three.
