Virender Sehwag reveals why Delhi didn't pick Virat Kohli in IPL 2008
Former India cricketer Virender Sehwag has opened up on why Delhi Daredevils (now Delhi Capitals) didn't choose Virat Kohli from the Under-19 players draft ahead of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2008. The players from India's Under-19 World Cup-winning squad were put in a draft, and all eight teams had to choose the players one by one.Delhi ended up picking left-arm seamer Pradeep Sangwan instead of the Under-19 captain Virat Kohli, a move which is seen as the biggest missed opportunity in the history of IPL. Recently, Sehwag explained the reasoning behind the move and revealed that since Delhi was full of several batters, they needed a bowler and hence ended up choosing Pradeep Sangwan.advertisement"I was the captain who didn't pick Virat Kohli, and chose Pradeep Sangwan. He wasn't even on the auction table. We already had — I was there, Gautam Gambhir, Shikhar Dhawan, Dilshan — we had so many top-order openers. Then there was AB de Villiers too. So we already had a lot of batsmen, but we didn't have bowlers. Our thinking was, let's pick a bowler, and a left-arm one to bring some variety. So maybe that was a good choice — Mahesh and Pradeep Sangwan, these were two young bowlers at the time. In the first three years we played, both of them did well for us,' Sehwag said on Cricbuzz.
Sangwan had a quiet season in 2008 as he ended up picking five wickets in the seven innings. However, he made a strong comeback in the next season as he scalped 15 wickets from 13 innings in Delhi's run to the semi-final. Sangwan played for three seasons in Delhi and scalped 29 wickets.advertisementOn the other hand, Virat Kohli went on to become a legend of the game in the following years as he now holds the record for most runs scored in the history of IPL. The star batter remains the only player to play for a single team in IPL history across all seasons and is also the poster boy for the T20 extravaganza.Stay updated on IPL 2025 with India Today! Get match schedules, team squads, live score, and the latest IPL points table for CSK, MI, RCB, KKR, SRH, LSG, DC, GT, PBKS, and RR. Plus, keep track of the top contenders for the IPL Orange Cap and Purple Cap. Don't miss a moment!
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Hindustan Times
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Hindustan Times
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Hindustan Times
an hour ago
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