Why Delhi Daredevils did not pick Virat Kohli in IPL Auction of 2008

IPL is one league that changed the lives many players. The platform that is presented to the players who are struggling to find their feet in the international stage is invaluable. The present Indian captain and arguably one of the best white ball cricketers ever in the history of the game in Virat Kohli was one among those players who was waiting for the right opportunity in 2008.

It was just a month before the auction for IPL in 2008 that Virat Kohli’s men brought laurels to India by winning the U19 world cup. It was expected that Virat Kohli being the captain who led India to a world cup triumph would be picked by his home state Delhi but what happened next is known to everyone.

Virat Kohli was not the first player to be picked- Raman

The COO of the IPL Sundar Raman in his latest podcast with Gaurav Kapur revealed the reason behind not picking Virat Kohli in the first ever auction in 2008 which turned out to be a huge loss for them in their IPL tourney.

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

Virat Kohli was not needed amidst Virender Sehwag and Ab de Villiers

Delhi Daredevils was a strong side back then as they had lots of power house like Dilshan, Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir and Ab de Villiers. The COO said that Virat Kohli was really not needed as they had enough batsmen in their team then.

Delhi passed on him, actually, 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