Virender Sehwag reveals why Delhi snubbed local boy Virat Kohli in IPL 2008

Virender Sehwag reveals why Delhi snubbed Virat Kohli in IPL 2008. (Photo: X)

The Delhi Daredevils' (now Delhi Capitals) 2008 choice to pass over Virat Kohli in the inaugural Indian Premier League (IPL) draft has been made public by Virender Sehwag, who was signed as a "icon player" before to the first season, making him the franchise's first captain.

The team chose left-arm bowler Pradeep Sangwan over local player Kohli, who was available for the signing. The Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) ultimately selected Kohli, and the rest, as they say, is history.

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As the only player to play for a single side for 18 seasons, Kohli has been a one-franchise man throughout his career.  He even served as RCB's captain for nine seasons before resigning in 2022.

Sehwag joked, "So you are questioning my captaincy," in response to the hosts on Cricbuzz questioning the reasoning behind the decision to pass on Kohli in the draft.

Delhi chose Sangwan because they had many top-order batsmen, Sehwag disclosed.

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"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.

At the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi on Sunday, Kohli assisted RCB in defeating DC.

Against the Delhi Capitals on Sunday, Kohli scored his sixth half-century in ten IPL innings, assisting RCB in extending their winning streak 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.