Ajinkya Rahane scores first century by an Indian captain at the MCG in 21-years as fans turn on Virat Kohli

Virat Kohli isn't even in Australia any more but a stunning masterclass from the stand in captain has turned the heat on the Indian superstar.

Ajinkya Rahane's spectacular century has seen fans turn on Virat Kohli.

Day two of the Boxing Day Test has been all about Ajinkya Rahane as India's stand-in captain claimed a sensational century to put Australia to the sword.

Rahane made Australia pay as he cashed in on a sensational century, becoming the first Indian captain since Sachin Tendulkar in 1999 to score a century at the MCG as well as the first visiting captain to achieve the feat since Pakistan's Mohammad Yousuf's 111 in 2004.

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Shane Warne was full of praise as Rahane became just the second Indian to score two centuries at the MCG, joining Vinoo Mankad.

"As far as hundreds go, they all just say one in the hundreds column but some are better than others," Warne said. "That will go down as one of the all-time great hundreds by Ajinkya Rahane given the conditions, given the situation of the game, given the quality of bowling, given the way the pitch has nipped around, put all those in the mix, that's where the stats don't tell you."

It has been an incredible turnaround by the Indians, who were bowled out in the last Test for just 36 with captain Virat Kohli leaving Australia to be at the birth of his first child.

Scoring his 12th Test century, Rahane has stood up for India with some fans questioning whether Rahane's captaincy move should be made permanent.

Ajinkya Rahane's ton will got down in Boxing Day folklore.

While Kohli is seen as an aggressive and somewhat abrasive captain, having famously been locked in a bitter battle with Aussie skipper Tim Paine last time around, Rahane spent the first day keeping his players calm.

As animated bowlers ran up to him begging for a review, he turned them down and weighed the pros and cons of each call.

His moves in the field and with the ball were heavily praised as India restricted Australia to just 195.

Former Aussie captain Ricky Ponting was one who praised his day one effort.

"(Rahane's captaincy) has been brilliant so far," Ponting told cricket.com.au.

"We were all a bit worried about how they were going to pick themselves up after Adelaide. I think they looked potentially better today (under Rahane’s leadership). Rahane's field placements, bowling changes have all been pretty much spot on."

Rahane was then a rock with the bat in hand, sharing in two 50 run stands and a 100-run stand on day two as India raced past Australia's total, taking a lead of 82 runs with five wickets in hand.

One social media fan pointed out the last time India had 50-run starnds for the fourth, fifth and sixth wickets in a match against the SENA countries of South Africa, England, New Zealand, and Australia was in 2009. SENA is seen as a yardstick for subcontinent batsmen due to the vastly different pitches.

Partnerships for Ind today:
4 - Rahane, Vihari 52
5 - Rahane, Pant 57
6 - Rahane, Jadeja 52*

The last time India had 50-run stands for the 4th, 5th and 6th wickets in an innings in SENA was vs NZ 2009:

4 - Sachin, VVS 61
5 - Sachin, Yuvi 76
6 - Sachin, Dhoni 115#AUSvIND

— Sudheesh (@_sudheesh) December 27, 2020

Rahane was involved in three of the four stands and the sixth wicket stand with Ravindra Jadeja wend for more than 100, the first sixth wicket stand to pass triple figures at a Boxing Day Test.

Adam Gilchrist said "it had been a day of frustration for the Australians", which may be an understatement.

Australia saw catches dropped by Tim Paine, Cameron Green and Steve Smith with Shubman Gill, Rishabh Pant and Rahane all given lives.

Steve Smith put a hot chance down.

Rahane went on to bring up the three figures, piling on the hurt after Smith's dropped catch on 73.

Rahane was given another life on 104 when Travis Head caught a ball at point but the ball spilled out when his elbow hit the ground, a moment that turned out to be the final moment before stumps as the covers were brought onto the field.

But while Kohli is back in India waiting for the birth of his first child, fans were quick to turn on the Indian skipper, calling for a change.

Imagine stepping into Kohli's shoes and captaining India, let alone after what happened in Adelaide. Rahane could not have handled this all any better. Star #AUSvIND

— Oliver Caffrey (@ollycaffrey) December 27, 2020

Rahane is not a “stand in “ captain . He is the captain for 75% of the Tests . If he wins , he should replace Kohli .

— Anurag Shrivastava (@hrnext) December 26, 2020

Should Kohli be fired and replaced with Rahane for good ?

— Anurag Shrivastava (@hrnext) December 27, 2020

Rahane’s captaincy was excellent today! His bowling changes and field placements were exceptional. Unlike Kohli who has such a larger than life personality, Jinx,like Rohit Sharma is a more of a leader from the back. It is not easy for a team to suffer amnesia after 36 all out!

— Kittu Kolluri (@kittukolluri) December 26, 2020

Impressive captaincy from Rahane on day 1 of the #BoxingDay test.

Enough to demonstrate that even though Kohli is the superior all format batsman, he has a better red ball & white ball captain in the same side who is waiting.

— Abhishek Singhvi (@DrAMSinghvi) December 26, 2020

I like Kohli’s progressive views on gender norms, the environment and all that, but the more I see Rohit Sharma in ODIs & T20s and Rahane in Tests, the more I believe he should step down as captain. I might vote for politician Kohli, but still not sold on cricket captain Kohli!

— Mohamed Zeeshan (@ZeeMohamed_) December 26, 2020

Kohli's captaincy was questioned throughout the series so far after two big losses in the first two ODI matches.

Kohli was then slammed again earlier this week after Indian cricket legend Sunil Gavaskar called out the decision for Kohli to leave when Thangarasu Natarajan has yet to meet his daughter despite being a net bowler for India at the moment.