<p>Melbourne: <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/tags/virat-kohli">Virat Kohli</a> had done everything he could to rile up the Australian fans. He had shoulder-barged debutant Sam Konstas on Thursday's opening day, incurring a sanction by the ICC. On the second day, he was briefly stationed on the line with the infamous Bay 13 stand behind him.</p>.<p>Bay 13, notorious for heckling rival players with the choicest of abuses, no longer exists with the authorities having sanitised the area with several restrictions, but it still retains traces of its old image. The crowd, expectedly, was booing their newest target No. 1. Not that Kohli cared. In fact he put his hand to ear, indicating he can't hear them and gestured them to be louder.</p>.Border-Gavaskar Trophy | India collapses to 164/5 on Day 2 of 4th Test after Jaiswal's terrible run-out.<p>Kohli thrives on the edge, feeding off the energy of confrontations, whether with players or crowds. His taunting gestures are a perfect snapshot of the battle-hardened warrior who knows how to turn hostility into fuel. </p>.<p>For nearly two hours of his stay in the middle along with a sublime Yashasvi Jaiswal, Kohli brought out the feisty fighter in him -- a trait that has earned him as much love as loath. He was unwavering in his concentration and unruffled in the face of a series of undesirable incidents that unfolded from Thursday.</p>.<p>He didn't fall for the off-side trap, executing just three scoring shots in that region in the first 60 balls and three more in the next 23 balls he faced. The restraint was obvious and the determination unmistakable.</p>.<p>"Look, he's a class player, we know that," Steve Smith said later about Kohli's innings. "Obviously, he played really well in Perth for that 100. And he looked really good today, I thought. 'Jeez, he's in for a good one here'."</p>.<p>Kohli's sanguine presence would have brought back memories of the 2014-15 series to Australians who learnt the hard way that going after the stormy petrel was a recipe for disaster. </p>.<p>His disciplined innings, marked by impeccable judgment and shot selection, was a masterclass in Test batting. Every run was cheered by a huge number of Indian supporters as though it was a boundary and every boundary was celebrated as a small victory for the man under spotlight.</p>.<p>Having faced over 80 balls, a big one from Kohli looked inevitable. But, even for someone of Kohli’s calibre, the game can pivot on a single moment -- a mix-up, a lapse, a chased ball --and remind us of the fine margins in elite sport.</p>.<p>Jaiswal's run-out seemed to have disturbed his concentration. Six balls after Jaiswal's exit, Kohli did what he had steadfastly avoided till then -- chase one wide outside off-stump. Edged and taken! </p>.<p>"It was probably the first ball, I think, he actually played at, on that 5th-6th stump line," Smith acknowledged. "He was really disciplined today, he was leaving nicely, making the bowlers come to him a bit more and scoring well through the leg side and when we went short.</p>.<p>"So, yeah, I thought we were in for a bit of a masterclass there. But fortunately, you know, Boland got one to sort of straighten probably off the line on that 5th-6th stump and it probably was one of the only ones he played at."</p>.<p>A younger Kohli, perhaps, would have put it behind him quickly and focussed on the task again. But an ageing, largely mellowed Kohli may have just allowed the incident to affect him. How will he script the final chapters of his illustrious career? How long can he hold back the sands of time?</p>
<p>Melbourne: <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/tags/virat-kohli">Virat Kohli</a> had done everything he could to rile up the Australian fans. He had shoulder-barged debutant Sam Konstas on Thursday's opening day, incurring a sanction by the ICC. On the second day, he was briefly stationed on the line with the infamous Bay 13 stand behind him.</p>.<p>Bay 13, notorious for heckling rival players with the choicest of abuses, no longer exists with the authorities having sanitised the area with several restrictions, but it still retains traces of its old image. The crowd, expectedly, was booing their newest target No. 1. Not that Kohli cared. In fact he put his hand to ear, indicating he can't hear them and gestured them to be louder.</p>.Border-Gavaskar Trophy | India collapses to 164/5 on Day 2 of 4th Test after Jaiswal's terrible run-out.<p>Kohli thrives on the edge, feeding off the energy of confrontations, whether with players or crowds. His taunting gestures are a perfect snapshot of the battle-hardened warrior who knows how to turn hostility into fuel. </p>.<p>For nearly two hours of his stay in the middle along with a sublime Yashasvi Jaiswal, Kohli brought out the feisty fighter in him -- a trait that has earned him as much love as loath. He was unwavering in his concentration and unruffled in the face of a series of undesirable incidents that unfolded from Thursday.</p>.<p>He didn't fall for the off-side trap, executing just three scoring shots in that region in the first 60 balls and three more in the next 23 balls he faced. The restraint was obvious and the determination unmistakable.</p>.<p>"Look, he's a class player, we know that," Steve Smith said later about Kohli's innings. "Obviously, he played really well in Perth for that 100. And he looked really good today, I thought. 'Jeez, he's in for a good one here'."</p>.<p>Kohli's sanguine presence would have brought back memories of the 2014-15 series to Australians who learnt the hard way that going after the stormy petrel was a recipe for disaster. </p>.<p>His disciplined innings, marked by impeccable judgment and shot selection, was a masterclass in Test batting. Every run was cheered by a huge number of Indian supporters as though it was a boundary and every boundary was celebrated as a small victory for the man under spotlight.</p>.<p>Having faced over 80 balls, a big one from Kohli looked inevitable. But, even for someone of Kohli’s calibre, the game can pivot on a single moment -- a mix-up, a lapse, a chased ball --and remind us of the fine margins in elite sport.</p>.<p>Jaiswal's run-out seemed to have disturbed his concentration. Six balls after Jaiswal's exit, Kohli did what he had steadfastly avoided till then -- chase one wide outside off-stump. Edged and taken! </p>.<p>"It was probably the first ball, I think, he actually played at, on that 5th-6th stump line," Smith acknowledged. "He was really disciplined today, he was leaving nicely, making the bowlers come to him a bit more and scoring well through the leg side and when we went short.</p>.<p>"So, yeah, I thought we were in for a bit of a masterclass there. But fortunately, you know, Boland got one to sort of straighten probably off the line on that 5th-6th stump and it probably was one of the only ones he played at."</p>.<p>A younger Kohli, perhaps, would have put it behind him quickly and focussed on the task again. But an ageing, largely mellowed Kohli may have just allowed the incident to affect him. How will he script the final chapters of his illustrious career? How long can he hold back the sands of time?</p>