The careers of Nathan Lyon and Virat Kohli may only be a fraction of what they are today if it wasn’t for Adelaide Oval.

It may sound a far stretch to hold a venue even partly responsible for shaping not just professional futures, but lives.

But prior to one career-defining Test in the City of Churches four years ago, Kohli was a batsman with great potential rather than a great batsman, averaging less than 40 in Test cricket.

Lyon’s situation was far worse.

Many Australians had lost faith in the tweaker and doubted if he could ever consistently turn in matchwinning performances for his country.

Both undoubtedly had untapped potential, but then again, so have thousands of cricketers who have played on the international stage. Most have their careers peter away without climax or any true coming-of-age moment.

Kohli’s was expected to happen eventually, although nothing is certain in professional sport. Many thought Lyon’s would never happen, and how wrong they were.

Lyon was becoming increasingly maligned for underperforming in the deciding moments of Test matches. His most notable flop had just come in a two-Test series against Pakistan in the UAE.

Australia was whitewashed and Lyon was one of its worst bowlers despite being its premier spinner in spin-friendly conditions.

Pakistan’s spinners Zulfiqar Babar and Yasir Shah ran riot, taking 26 wickets at 22.15 between them. Lyon, however, took 3-422 off his 110 overs for the series. Part-timer Steve Smith and then Test debutant Steve O’Keefe performed better, taking three wickets at 48.33 and four at 54.75 respectively.

That followed Lyon’s disappointment of going wicketless in his previous Test, which was against South Africa in Cape Town.

In the wake of Phillip Hughes’ tragic death, Lyon fronted up at Adelaide Oval for the first Test of a Border-Gavaskar series with the weight on his shoulders heavier than ever.

What followed was not just one of Lyon’s finest bowling performances to date, but also his and the team’s moment of catharsis following days of pain and sorrow.

His first-innings 5-134 was just his sixth five-wicket haul in Test cricket that left Australia with a 73-run lead. But his best was yet to come.

India looked certain for at least a draw, reaching the final session on day five with eight wickets remaining. Lyon was struggling at 1-91.

Then came one of the most remarkable tearaway performances by an Australian bowler in the final session of a Test match.

A two-wicket maiden bowled by Lyon with 30 overs left in the day sent India into a spin. Seventeen overs later and Lyon was taking his seventh wicket of the innings, sixth since tea, and the last of the match to hand Australia a 48-run win with time to spare.

He was awarded man-of the-match honours for his first ever ten-wicket haul (12 at 23.84), with the majority of his scalps coming in the Test’s dying moments – a time when many believed he went missing.

Lyon’s most notable wicket was that of Kohli, who had long threatened on the final day to capture an unlikely result for the visitors.

Despite defeat, this was Kohli’s big moment, too.

Elevated to captain for the first time, the then 26-year-old tore apart Australia’s attack in both innings to become earmarked as a future great.

His hard-fought 115 off 184 in the first innings was bettered by his gritty 141 off 175 in the second.

Kohli became just the sixth opposition player ever - and the first in more than 50 years - to score a century in both innings of a Test in Australia. No visiting player has matched the feat since.

The Test was a fork in the road of Kohli’s career, which has taken a drastically different path since.

Before the first ball of that match, Kohli had made 1,855 Test runs at just 39.46. In the series prior, a tour of England, he had struggled through five Tests with an average of 13.40. He has made 4,476 at 64.86 since.

Not only that, but he has also become India’s biggest sports hero since Sachin Tendulkar, maybe of all time.

Lyon’s career has also statistically improved, albeit not by the same margin. He had taken 115 wickets at 35.80 before the start of that Test, and has taken 203 at 30.18 since to cement his status as Australia’s greatest ever off-spinner.

His career tally is now at 318 – the most ever for an Australian off-spinner, and only behind Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath and Dennis Lillee in the nation’s all-time charts.

How different things could have been for him if not for that hour at Adelaide Oval.

The pair will for the first time reunite at the ground that shaped their careers on Thursday for the first Test of the Border-Gavaskar series. They’ve both given themselves plenty to live up to.