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

#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.