Virat Kohli in IPL through the years: The transformation in pictures

2016: Batting that bordered on invincibility

Kohli was in a zone of his own in 2016, first for India in the Asia Cup and the World T20, and then for the Royal Challengers in the IPL. He smacked four centuries, (he did not have even one T20 century before this), and almost single-handedly catapulted his side to the IPL finals. They stumbled at the final hurdle, but Kohli had established his reputation as one of the greats of the modern game.

Kohli injured his hand midway through the IPL, but continued to lead his side to the finals.

His facial features had become sharper, the beard became denser, and the overall physique fitter than ever.

2017: The season to forget

After flying high in the 2016 season, Kohli’s team fell flat in 2017.

The season started on the wrong foot for RCB: Kohli himself missed the first few games with a shoulder injury, AB de Villiers was unavailable for a couple of games, and Chris Gayle and Shane Watson were in horrible form. Kohli returned after a ten-day layoff, but the touch had gone.

Apart from a fluent 64, and a couple of more fifties, Kohli couldn’t repeat the golden form of last year, and with no one to help him, encountered a rut and failed to lead his side through to the playoffs.

It was one of the low-points of his career. “I have never seen something like this on a cricket field”, he confessed