There might not have been a Mumbaikar for the Wankhede crowd to cheer in this Test match – the first time that has ever happened – but nobody in Mumbai will complain one bit, because they got to see India's favourite cricketing son at the moment play one of the great Test match innings on this hallowed ground. Virat Kohli, when he plays like he did on Saturday, all you can do is sit back, with a smile perpetually on your lips, a bit of that I-can't-believe-what-I-am-seeing headshake going on there and admire the sheer class of the man.
Over and over again, we have been privileged to see Kohli the one-day machine go to work with ridiculous consistency; making the run chases look like a nice, calm Sunday brunch. That Kohli beast had not quite shown its face often enough in Test match cricket, but this innings highlighted just how much the India captain has improved in this format.
It was always a matter of time before the Test match Kohli stood up, and throughout 2016, there were obvious signs that the great man was turning himself into a machine in the most revered of formats as well. The only thing that was perhaps missing was that one innings on a testing wicket where he made bowlers look like players who had just come in for a bit of a bowl on the weekend.
On a wicket that was turning and bouncing, Kohli was unmoved. Playing the spinners with such wonderful control, that Adil Rashid and Moeen Ali could do nothing, even if they kept trying, desperate to find that one false shot or lapse in judgement. While Murali Vijay had his fair share of "ooh that was close" moments, Kohli was serene, batting in his own zone, playing shots that only he can play and inducing that "Kohli, Kohli, Kohli," chant from the crowd, which only pumped him up even more.
Yes, there was that one chance he gave to Adil Rashid when he was on 68, just to show that he is indeed human, but that was the only blemish in a plain ridiculous innings, one that would have made Mumbai and India's greatest cricketing son, the one that Kohli idolised growing up, stand up and applaud.
Thanks to Kohli's brilliance, India have taken the lead in this Test match. And to think that when England scored 400 in the first innings, most were saying they are 50 runs above par.
That is what great players do – they seize the moment, and that moment came from the third ball of day three, and never let go. Kohli was made for blockbuster, superstar cricket, and having done it time and again in the blues of India, he is starting to do it over and over again in the whites as well.
Long may that continue.
