Even before he got to his 15th Test century, commentators started whispering that this knock ranked right up there. Yes, it is not (as yet) a double century. But the manner in which Kohli scored his runs and considering the nature of the pitch, it is difficult not to doubt that.

Kohli’s unbeaten 147 was a masterclass. The loss of wickets before tea did not faze him. The period after lunch when he scored only 11 off 47 balls did not faze him. Giving Adil Rashid a dropped chance did not faze him. He was a metronome. The ball was more than 40 overs old, but he still danced back, plunged forward. He cut at the last moment, nudged it around, did anything he wanted. England’s bowlers bounced him, they got him to lunge away from the body, they tried to get him caught on his pads. But as many opposition teams have found out in 2016, Virat Kohli is simply the best batsman of this generation, if not many generations.

The most significant landmark that Kohli crossed was the 500-run barrier in this series. That’s two centuries and two half-centuries in this series already. Only one Indian Test captain has scored more than 500 runs in a series, Sunil Gavaskar who did it twice.

A word of praise for Jayant Yadav. India were still in danger of conceding a first innings lead when Ravindra Jadeja miscued an attempt to smash it into the adjoining Arabian Sea and holed out, with India’s score at 364/7. But Yadav (30 not out) remained a steady, calm figure, blocking them out and helping Kohli in his merry ways. Towards the end, even he opened up, hitting some delectable cover drives and showcasing his batting skills.

India already have a lead of 51. They lead 2-0 in the series. England face the prospect of trying to negate Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja on a difficult pitch. The next day looks ominous for them.

Brief scores:

India 451/7 (Virat Kohli 147 not out; Murali Vijay 116; Joe Root 2/18, Moeen Ali 2/139) lead England 400 by 51 runs