Virat Kohli Shows Steel as Well as Style with Melbourne Ton

Virat Kohli has always had style. The 26-year-old showed in Melbourne on Sunday that he now has the steel to go with it.

After being run ragged for the best part of two days by Steve Smith and the Australian lower order, India could have easily subsided in the face of the home side's total of 530.

Instead, Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane took the attack to the hosts and got the visitors within touching distance of parity.

Kohli certainly rode his luck, making the most of a life after being dropped by Shane Watson on 88. The Indian was good enough to take advantage of that bonus opportunity, adding a further 81 runs. It took a great catch from Brad Haddin to end Kohli's masterclass with India just 68 runs behind.

The trademark elegant drives were much in evidence as Kohli wowed the MCG crowd en route to a Test best score of 169. More impressive than the Indian vice-captain's strokeplay, though, was his response to a typically aggressive Australian attack.

Matters came to a head after Mitchell Johnson attempted to throw down the stumps but instead struck Kohli. Despite a quick apology from the Aussie speedster, a sharp exchange of views ensued.

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Words being exchanged out there. Kohli didn't seem too happy after this incident at the start of last over #AUSvIND pic.twitter.com/gUhgWsyOBR

— cricket.com.au (@CricketAus) December 28, 2014"

Indian sides of a previous vintage could have crumbled in the face of the barrage that followed. Kohli thrived on it. How many batsmen would have the front to blow Mitchell Johnson a kiss after striking a boundary? Kohli is one.

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Virat hits Mitch for four and starts blowing him kisses! What a day of Test cricket! http://t.co/LDINCret7f #AUSvIND pic.twitter.com/lSJmwVxp0e

— cricket.com.au (@CricketAus) December 28, 2014"

Any batsman facing the Australians can look forward to an examination of character as well as technique. The men from Down Under are masters of the dark arts of mental disintegration.

In some cases, though, the bowlers are wise to leave the sledging for snow-filled mountains. Rather than turning Kohli into a cowering wreck, the verbal volleys have had the opposite effect. Three centuries this series certainly suggests so.

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Kohli says the Aussies called him a "spoilt brat" today. "I love an argument and they don't seem to be learning their lesson" #AUSvIND

— cricket.com.au (@CricketAus) December 28, 2014"

Kohli saved his sharpest work, both in the middle and in the post-match press conference (via ESPNCricinfo.com) for Mitchell Johnson.

“You can’t then back off after saying a few words and not show it with your skill so I decided that whenever he comes on to bowl I was going to back myself and take him on. I don’t mind giving a word back and neither does he, so it kept going on.”

Kohli's heroics in Melbourne take his total runs in the series to 445 at an average of 89.00. It's hard to believe that this is the same batsman who scored just 134 in 10 innings against England a few short months ago.

With runs hard to come by, MS Dhoni's hold on the Indian captaincy is starting to come under pressure, in the Test arena at least.

After an impressive and aggressive spell as stand-in skipper, Kohli appears to be the heir-apparent when Dhoni's reign ends.

He already has the backing of one influential figure. Former captain Sourav Ganguly thinks that Kohli is the man to take India forward.

Ganguly wrote in Australia's Daily Telegraph, “I think he is the future. He will be captain of India. You need positivity. You need positive captains. I like his passion. You’ve got to have passion. It should mean something to you, any job you do. I like him, I like what I see.”

If Kohli's battles against a fiery Australian side are anything to go by, a new, more aggressive and positive Indian side could be in the offing in the not too distant future.