It had nothing to do with Virat Kohli, or even cricket, but could so well have been referring to the India captain’s magnificent century at Edgbaston – his first in England, after having scored 134 runs in 10 previous innings.  A century in the making for more than four years.

Never mind that Kohli got 655 runs when he last played against England in Tests, including a masterly 235 in Mumbai that sealed the series for India. Never mind that he had scores of 54 and 41 on one of the most treacherous surfaces that India have played on all year – in Johannesburg – and never mind, of course, that he came into this series as the No.2-ranked batsman in the world.

Shami fell to Anderson, Sharma fell to Rashid, but Kohli stood tall. By now, Kohli had started toying with the bowling. He was taking singles off the fourth, fifth or sixth balls, with England trying and failing, mostly, in their pursuit of having Yadav on strike. That they were trying to have the bowlers and not Kohli was a sign that perhaps the hosts had conceded Kohli was too good, even for them, on the day.

Kohli knew it, and so when a tired Stokes came back for his last burst of the day, he was driven and pulled for boundaries. Rashid was heaved over extra cover and pulled over mid-wicket for a six. Kohli carried India from 169/7 to within 13 runs of England’s first-innings total and he did it without any mic-drops or abuse.

India do have many problems to counter still and this Test is far from over, but on the second day at Edgbaston, Kohli conquered his demons with one superpower that was never really associated with him: Patience. And showed why he is one of the best in the world.