One thing that Virat Kohli does is makes you feel you’ve witnessed a classic.

Not all innings are created equal. Cheteshwar Pujara in Adelaide and Kohli in Perth each made 123. Each faced a similar number of balls. Pujara’s was a perfect display of pacing and patience. Kohli’s felt special in a way all its own.

I’ve seen five Kohli specials. His final-innings masterpiece at the Adelaide Test in 2014, so nearly chasing 369 as Nathan Lyon ragged the ball out of the rough and Kohli drove against the spin through cover. The one-dayer in Hobart in a tri-series, when India had to chase 321 in 40 overs to secure a bonus point and make the final, only for Kohli to power them there inside 37 overs.

Back-to-back at the World T20, against Australia and the West Indies, unbeaten for 82 and 89 off half as many balls, with only half his runs in boundaries, working twos to every corner with supreme fitness and control.

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Then this one. Perth 2018, second Test of the series, the first at the new stadium. His 123 was out of 283 total, keeping his side in the fight on the third day. India should still go on to lose this Test, even as Australia’s ramshackle second innings slumped to 132-4. If the lead of 175 is pushed past 250 on the fourth day it will be a tough chase.

But India are still a chance, when they should have been sunk on day two. Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood had come out breathing fire, swinging the ball full to torch the stumps of both openers in that fashion that inspires the fielding side and deflates the other. The inexperienced Hanuma Vihari was batting at six, a bash-crash wicketkeeper at seven, followed by four tailenders who could stage a convincing cage match between them for the No11 spot.

Kohli, Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane had to rival Australia’s 326 between them. So Kohli did his best. Coming out in the sixth over, he got underway second ball with a perfect on-drive. It’s probably the hardest shot in the game, a confluence of balance, movement, and confidence. Yet the prime new-ball bowler was dispatched.

Two overs later, with Hazlewood still bowling full, Kohli produced two more on-drives separated by one through mid-off. Three boundaries in four balls, and his score was 18 from 10. People said he was going after Hazlewood. He was only going after the balls that were there to hit. As the bowling tightened, Kohli withdraw his ramparts, blotting out maiden overs or taking occasional singles. He would face 68 more balls before his next boundary.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Virat Kohli en route to his century in Perth. Photograph: Cameron Spencer/Getty Images

Those saying the pitch had become docile were also astray. There was still pace and some movement. Kohli’s best battle was with Patrick Cummins, who kept working away at off stump. But one over from Cummins summed up Kohli’s day. He was beaten outside off, then smacked painfully above the thigh pad. The next ball was edged down into the cordon. The next, a bit too full, met that perfect on-drive. No matter what happened, Kohli’s concentration saw him take every scoring chance. In that way he built partnerships of 74 with Pujara and 91 with Rahane, to be 82 not out overnight.

The analysts at CricViz create an index for bowling danger, combining factors like accuracy and movement against historical data and wicket frequency. By their numbers Australia’s bowlers were due eight wickets in the day. India gave them three. Even when Rahane fell to Lyon for 51 to start day three, Kohli gave more of the same: complete flexibility according to the ball, complete rigidity in attacking intent.

Seeing Starc take the new ball while six runs short of a century would be enough to send most batsmen into nervous paralysis, but Kohli calmly clipped two runs through midwicket from the first delivery, then drove past the bowler for the milestone. It meant Kohli has Test hundreds in Adelaide, Melbourne, Sydney and Perth. He’s played once in Brisbane and never will in Hobart. Only Jack Hobbs and Wally Hammond have scored more visiting hundreds in Australia than Kohli’s six.

The milestone done, he slammed another full Starc ball through cover, meeting it at the bounce. Lyon had disappeared that way several times, Kohli dropping his weight into a crouch, then reaching wide for an ice-hockey slap to the rope. Hazlewood was uppercut over the slips for a flat six. In between, he ran singles like a T20.

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All the while, Kohli was batting well out of his crease. Against a pace attack averaging 143 kilometres an hour, the analysts at CricViz had him meeting the ball further down the wicket on average than any visiting batsman in Australia on record. His false-shot percentage was the lowest in the match.

Eventually Cummins got him as the sixth wicket, driving to slip. Peter Handscomb’s catch was contentious but probably clean. The deficit was 72, and a few hits from Rishabh Pant narrowed it to 43 before the rest were out.

Australia’s reply wasn’t helped when Mohammad Shami broke Aaron Finch’s finger with a short ball on the stroke of tea. Finch retired hurt after a brisk 25, Marcus Harris was bowled leaving Jasprit Bumrah for 20, then the next three batsmen fell in patented style: Shaun Marsh loose outside off stump for 5, Peter Handscomb trapped on his back pad for 13, and Travis Head on 19 slapping a cut shot to third man for the second time in the match.

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Usman Khawaja and Tim Paine can still drive Australia ahead on day four. Kohli’s innings may not win the match. That shouldn’t detract from its quality. What we do know already is that his 25th Test hundred, added to his 38 in one-day games, means that only Ricky Ponting and Sachin Tendulkar have made more international centuries. More than a few of Kohli’s have been masterpieces. This one in Perth will remain one of them.