How to solve a problem like Virat Kohli?

How do you solve a problem called Virat Kohli? You don't. You sit back and marvel at what the man can do, even at 37 and even if you're supporting his opponents. And be happy you don't have to bowl to him.

The South Africans didn't have an option in Ranchi on Sunday. They had to bowl to Kohli, and he made them pay.

Kohli's 120-ball 135 in the first ODI was his 83rd century in his 621st international innings. In ODI terms, it was his 52nd. That took him past Sachin Tendulkar for the most centuries in a particular format – Tendulkar scored 51 Test hundreds.

Tendulkar scored his 49th and last ODI century in his 451st innings. Kohli has hurtled to 52 in 294, and who would say he doesn't have more left in the tank.

It was, as it always is when Kohli is on song, an innings equal parts precision, authority and what looks from a distance like cold fury. He reached his first 50 off 48 and the second off 52. Then he overcame a disruption, caused by a spectator who ran onto the field to kiss his feet, well enough to hit four fours and two sixes off seven balls bowled to him by Prenelan Subrayen and Ottneil Baartman.

"I just felt like let me go out there and hit the ball, and not think too much about any of the other stuff," Kohli told the host broadcaster. "It was just me and the ball coming at me, just enjoying the game of cricket. Which was the very reason I started playing this game."

Kohli's focus and mechanics remained constant throughout. He welcomed the responsibility of stabilising the innings in a stand of 136 off 109 with Rohit Sharma, then batted through three more partnerships – the last of them 74 off 76 with KL Rahul. That set the stage for Rahul and Ravindra Jadeja to hammer 65 off 36.

India posted 349/8, a record total for Ranchi ODIs. India seemed sure to defend that total when Arshdeep Singh and Harshit Rana cleared away South Africa's top order of Aiden Markram, Ryan Rickelton and Quinton de Kock inside five overs with just 11 runs scored.

But the visitors rallied and were in with a shout while Matthew Breetzke was sharing half-century stands with Tony de Zorzi, Dewald Brevis and Marco Jansen. The 97 off 69 he and Jansen put on quelled a crowd still abuzz from watching Kohli.

The match was effectively decided in the 34th over, which started with South Africa needing 123 off 102. Kuldeep Yadav ended that prospect by having first Jansen then Breetzke caught in the deep in the space of three deliveries. Corbin Bosch kept the glimmer alive with his spirited 51-ball 67, his first ODI half-century.

"We never lost the belief that we could pull a rabbit from the hat," Aiden Markram said after the match. But the bunny wouldn't budge, and the South Africans went down by 17 with Yadav taking 4/68.

Hence the spotlight settled, finally and deservedly, on Kohli. He spent his time in the field laughing and joking with his teammates and being the livewire he has always been.

"All my cricket has been mental," Kohli said. "I work hard physically every day of my life. It's got nothing to do with cricket anymore. It's the way I live. So as long as my fitness levels are up and my mental enjoyment and sharpness is there, when you can visualise the game and you see yourself running hard and reacting fast, then you know it's fine."

The last time the South Africans had to deal with Kohli in this format, in a World Cup match at Eden Gardens in November 2023, he celebrated his 35th birthday by scoring an unbeaten 101.

India won that game, too. As they have done in all but 14 of the matches in which Kohli has made a hundred. The most famous instance must be the Adelaide Test of December 2014, which Australia won despite him scoring 115 and 141.

South Africans and Kohli go a long way back. He befriended AB de Villiers and Faf du Plessis, thanks to the IPL. He has earned the respect of millions of other South Africans.

Kohli made eight centuries against the Proteas before Sunday, when he proved again – and after being dismissed for one or nought in three of his last four ODI innings – that's he's still got it.

More than 17 years after he stepped onto the field as a senior international for the first time, there is still no solving a problem called Virat Kohli.