Back on March 11, 2008, a young Virat Kohli joined the RCB camp after being picked from the U-19 draft ahead of the inaugural IPL season. Earlier that year, Kohli had led India to victory in the prestigious U-19 World Cup, emerging as the team’s highest run-scorer in the tournament with 235 runs, including a century against West Indies.
Unsurprisingly, his impressive performance made him a hot prospect among IPL franchises. Eventually, RCB secured him for a price of USD 30,000 (approximately INR 12 lakh). However, Kohli’s debut season wasn’t particularly memorable, as he managed only 165 runs from 13 matches at an average of 15 and a strike rate of 105.09, with a top score of 39. But after that, what happened is no secret, this run master became a household name and went on to lead RCB for a long period.
Why Delhi Daredevils chose not to pick Virat Kohli in IPL 2008 auction
Now, it was expected that since Virat Kohli is from Delhi, it would have been ideal for Delhi Capitals (formerly Delhi Daredevils) to buy him. However, they made an interesting move and, despite Virat’s name in the draft, they chose to let him go and picked pacer Pradeep Sangwan instead.
A few years ago, former IPL COO Sunder Raman explained Delhi’s strategic move and why DD opted for a bowler instead of Kohli.
“Interestingly, that was also the year India had won the U-19 World Cup, just a month before the auction. They were captained by Virat Kohli, and we decided to keep a separate draft for the U-19 players a few days after the auction. Surprise, surprise! Virat Kohli was not the first player to be picked in the draft,” Raman told Gaurav Kapur on the podcast ‘22 Yarns’.
“Delhi passed on him and picked Pradeep Sangwan instead because they said they didn’t need another batsman. And they didn’t actually — they had Virender Sehwag and AB de Villiers. They were right in their thinking, but RCB picked him up, and the rest, as they say, is history,” Raman added.
Virat Kohli IPL stats
| Year | Mat | No | Runs | HS | Avg | BF | SR | 100 | 50 | 4s | 6s | CT | ST |
| Career | 252 | 37 | 8004 | 113 | 38.67 | 6065 | 131.97 | 8 | 55 | 705 | 272 | 115 | 0 |
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