Virender Sehwag has lifted the lid on the Delhi Daredevils’ (now Delhi Capitals) decision of not buying Virat Kohli during the first-ever Indian Premier League (IPL) draft in 2008. Sehwag was the first-ever captain of the franchise after being signed as an “icon player” ahead of the inaugural season. The franchise had the opportunity to sign a local player in Kohli, but decided to go for left-arm pacer Pradeep Sangwan instead. In the end, Kohli was picked by the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), and the rest as they say is history.
Kohli has been a one-franchise man throughout his career so far, making him the only player to play for one team for 18 seasons. He has even led RCB for nine seasons before stepping down in 2022.
“So you are questioning my captaincy,” Sehwag said jokingly after the hosts on Cricbuzz questioned the logic behind the call to snub Kohli during the draft.
Sehwag revealed that since Delhi had plenty of top-order batters, they picked Sangwan.
“This did not happen on the auction table. I was there. We also had Gautam Gambhir, Shikhar Dhawan, Dilshan, AB de Villiers. There were so many openers and top-order batters. We had a lot of batters, but we did not have bowlers. So our thinking was to get an extra bowler. He was a left-armer. We thought he would do good and he did too. Yo, Mahesh and Pradeep Sangwan were two young bowlers, who did well for us in the first three seasons,” Sehwag added.
On Sunday, Kohli helped RCB conquer DC at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi.
Kohli collected his sixth half-century in 10 IPL innings against Delhi Capitals on Sunday, helping RCB maintain their unbeaten run away from home.
“It was a top win, especially looking at the surface. We saw a few games here and this wicket played out differently compared to those. Whenever there’s a chase on, I keep checking with the dugout, whether we’re on course,” Kohli, who played a second-fiddle to Krunal Pandya, said after the win.
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