5 crucial losses that proved to be turning points in Virat Kohli’s career

The kind of success Virat Kohli is enjoying at the moment comes to the lives of only a few destined people. Everything he touches seems to be turning to gold, reminding us of the Midas touch which Dhoni once had. He plunders opposition bowling attacks, milking runs in a manner most pleasing to the human eye. He marshals his troops with swagger and strategy, leading from the front, achieving one victory after another in his bid to scale the rankings across all formats.

The team is at the top of the Test and the ODI rankings and he is himself number 1, 2 and 3 on the batting charts for ODIs, Tests and T20Is respectively. And if the win in Johannesburg is anything to go by, he is all set to set right India’s overseas record in the coming year or so as he travels across the world with the numero uno status.

All of this success and superstardom that he enjoys has not come overnight. His determination and talent coupled with unparalleled work ethic have elevated him to such a position where people who once spoke of his attitude as being brash and abrasive today believe that his aggressive instincts are the way forward for Indian cricket.

This Delhi boy, who comes from a middle-class family but is the poster boy of world cricket today, has experienced quite a few ups and downs in his career. While history will remember King Kohli for the innumerable victories that he clinched for his team, there have been certain losses which have proven to be milestones in his career, helping him evolve both as a person and a cricketer.

We have a look at 5 such losses that played an instrumental role in the shaping up of Virat Kohli. The greatest loss though, much greater than any on the field, was the one when the 17-year-old ‘Cheeku’ lost his father in the middle of an ongoing Ranji Trophy match. What was surprising was his dedication to the sport as he turned up on the field the very next day to save the match from a precarious position for Delhi.

One thing common across all these losses is that the run machine Kohli fired in all of them, coming up with performances that people took note of.

#1 Adelaide Test vs Australia, 2012

Young Kohli exuberant in celebration

The fourth Test of the 2011-12 Border Gavaskar trophy in Australia was pretty much like a do or die chance for the right-handed West Delhi boy. India had been blanked in the three preceding Tests and it was a collective batting failure. None of the Indian batsmen, the likes of Gambhir, Sehwag, Dravid, Tendulkar and Laxman, had even gone on to register a three-figure score in the entire series.

Captain MS Dhoni persisted with Kohli in the lineup, even as pressure built up questioning his position in the team due to lack of performance.

After being in the field for 157 overs and seeing the Aussies pile up 604 runs, the Indian batting again slumped in response. Virat, though, had a point to prove. Bringing in the confidence of scoring 44 and 75 in the Perth Test, the then 23-year-old Virat weathered the storm en route his maiden Test century. What it meant to him was evident by his on-field celebrations.

India went on to lose the Test by a whopping 298 runs but the only positive that came, not just from this Test but the entire series, was that Virat Kohli had announced his arrival at the world stage.

#2 CB Series involving Sri Lanka and Australia and Asia Cup loss

Kohli was awarded ODI Cricketer of the year in 2012

If the Adelaide Test proved to be a major turning point in his test career, this three-nation series involving the Lankan lions and host Aussies turned out to be an inflection point in Virat’s ODI career. Coming into the ODI leg of the tour, unlike the Test side, Virat had already cemented his place without doubts in the 50-over line-up. He was a mainstay in the top order and was coming off a successful 2011 season with 1381 runs in the calendar year.

As hungry as he is for runs and success, Kohli was yet to show fans and critics what he actually had in store. With 373 runs, he top scored in the tournament as far as Indians were concerned and in a must-win game against Sri Lanka at Hobart, the spoilt brat showed signs of coming of age.

In what will be a memorable win for India, his 86 ball unbeaten 133 helped them chase down 320 in less than 37 overs, giving India a ray of hope of making it to the finals. Destiny, though, had other ideas as India lost out on a final spot to their neighbours in the south.

The Indians found themselves fighting odds against destiny once again in the Asia Cup in Bangladesh which succeeded the CB Series. The Indians again lost out on a finals’ spot, this time to a different neighbour-arch rivals Pakistan. And what made the truth bitter was that the Indians rode on the back of a scintillating career-best 183 from newly appointed vice-captain Virat to beat Pakistan in a group game in the same edition of the multi-nation event.

The fire within Kohli had been ignited, if at all it wasn't till then. The following months saw him toying with opposition bowlers as he struck a purple patch. He began mastering the art of chasing, chasing down totals, however big they were, for fun. He scored 1026 runs @ 68.40 in 2012, 1268 runs @ 52.83 and 1054 runs @ 58.56 in 2014 as he kept piling up centuries and misery for opposition captains and bowlers.

He was awarded ODI Cricketer of the year in 2012 by the ICC and he has never looked back. Today, his jaw-dropping numbers and performances have already made him a legend of the ODI game.

#3 Adelaide Test vs Australia, 2014

His 141 did not go in vain as he had clearly shown where he was going to take Indian cricket

The fierce competitor that he is, always in the face of the opposition, Kohli relishes the battle against the Aussies, who themselves leave no stone unturned when it comes to playing with the mind of their counterparts on the field. In their 2014 tour Down Under, India were dealt a blow in the series opener as regular skipper Dhoni missed out due to an injury. What that meant was that the 26-year-old Virat Kohli became the 32nd man to lead India in Tests.

The charismatic right-hander does not shy away from a big occasion. In fact, he comes out even stronger when pushed against the wall. He surely loves winning. And this Test is where the world got the first glimpse of exactly that.

Batting first, the hosts had piled up a mammoth 517/7 on the back of centuries from Warner, Clarke and Smith. In reply, India did decently well with the bat by compiling 444. Vijay, Pujara and Rahane contributed with half-centuries and our man and captain-in-charge Kohli scored an eye-catching 115. Australia declared their second innings on 290/5, setting India a target of 364 runs to achieve victory and giving their bowlers one complete day to take ten wickets. The number that was most discussed overnight the fourth day was not 364 but 98 - the number of overs India needed to survive to save the Test.

But what happened on the fifth day, changed Indian cricket forever. This was not a defensive India. This was not a team looking to play for time or overs. It was not a group of men waiting for defeat. This was a bunch of youngsters looking to stamp their authority on world cricket. This was Virat Kohli’s India. And the only result he was playing for was an Indian win.

The Indians looked well on track to achieve a memorable win till the duo of Vijay and Virat was at the crease. The former got out for 99 which followed a collapse of the batting order, leading the latter to fight a lone battle from the other end. He though never looked out of sorts. He had envisioned victory and that was what he played for until the end. He fell short by 48 runs as the home team and captain Michael Clarke took a sigh of relief. But his 141 did not go in vain as he had clearly shown where he was going to take Indian cricket.

Dhoni came back to captain India for the next Two tests before announcing his retirement mid-series. India had a new captain and exciting times ahead as the new skipper infused a different character into the team. The attitude that he brought helped India reach the zenith and be a champion team within the next couple of years.

#4 vs Mumbai Indians, Champions League T20, 2010

The making of the superstar of the IPL

In the modern era, one is not considered a complete batsman if he does not adapt to all the three formats. With the tight schedule of the cricket calendar, a player hardly gets time to switch off between formats. With the advent of T20s it became pretty much compulsory for batsmen to be able to score quickly and adapt themselves to fit into the T20 setup. And Kohli obliged.

This match, unlike others on the list, was not high profile. Firstly because the Champions League T20 could not gather much attention and secondly because this edition of the tournament did not take place in India.

In a crunch match for both these IPL heavyweights, Mumbai set RCB a par score of 166 to win the contest. The equation, which once read 40 required from 18 balls, was brought down to 13 from the final over by some amazing hitting by Virat as Lasith Malinga got a taste of what Kohli held for him in future.

After dispatching two yorkers of Zaheer Khan to the boundary, Virat needed to score 3 runs from the final ball to secure a win for his side. Alas! It wasn't to be. Just the kind of yorkers that were smashed to the boundary proved to be his undoing this time as RCB lost by two runs.

The young Virat’s 24-ball-47 effort wasn't enough a for a victory but more than enough to break him down. He sat on his haunches and it took long for Dravid to console him off the park.

RCB eventually made the semi-finals where they went down to another IPL mate Chennai Super Kings but the biggest positive for RCB was that they had more than figured out the way forward for the franchise. In the mega-auction that preceded the next season of the IPL, Kohli was RCB’s only retention and the results were there to be seen.

Ever since Kohli has been scoring heftily for RCB and scored an incredible 973 runs in the 2016 edition which included four centuries. In fact, the only feather missing in his ornate cap seems to be the IPL title.

Kohli's success in the T20 format did not just benefit Bangalore, he took batting to another level in T20Is as well. He was consecutively awarded Player of the Tournament in the 2014 and 2016 editions of the ICC T20 World Cup. He is the only player in the world who boasts of a T20I batting average in excess of 50.

#5 Galle Test vs Sri Lanka, 2015

The realisation to score daddy hundreds

After leading India in a couple of matches in Australia and playing out a rain-affected draw against Bangladesh, this was Virat Kohli’s first full consignment as Indian Test skipper as he led his team against the Lankans in the Emerald Island. Just as he was looking to set feet in the large shoes left vacant by Dhoni, other team members were looking to cement their place in what was the start of more than a year of back to back Test match cricket, all of which was to take place in the sub-continent.

Batting first, the home team were bowled out for a paltry 183 as Ashwin picked six on a track that was already assisting the spinners. In response, Indian batsmen made 375 as Dhawan(134) and Kohli(103) joined forces to score centuries and give India a 192 run lead.

After having Sri Lanka tottering at 95/5 in the second innings, India let loose as Dinesh Chandimal played the innings of his lifetime. His unbeaten 162 set India 176 for a win. The target wasn't daunting but the visitors succumbed to the class of Herath who accounted for seven Indian batsmen after going wicketless in the first innings. India fell well short as they lost the match by 48 runs.

The unexpected defeat brought the team together and what unfolded in the next 28 months was champion stuff from the Indians. In the period between August 2015 and December 2017, India, under the leadership of Kohli, won 21 out of their 31 Tests. Their solitary defeat came against the Aussies in Pune.

This golden run in Indian cricket accounted for the routing of Sri Lanka thrice (twice in Sri Lanka and once back home), South Africa, the Windies, New Zealand, England, Bangladesh and Australia. The captain Virat turned into a leader as he decimated bowling attacks while he broke record after record.

In this period, the genius batsmen scored close to 3000 runs at an average of 64 and celebrated 11 centuries, 5 of which went on to be double hundreds. He got into this good habit of scoring daddy hundreds, the need for which he first realised in the same Galle Test wherein he lost his wicket just after reaching the three-figure mark.