When Virat Kohli slipped through Delhi Daredevils' fingers in IPL 2008 auction

Delhi Daredevils missed a golden opportunity to sign Virat Kohli in the 2008 IPL auction. Despite being a Delhi lad and U19 World Cup-winning captain in 2008, Delhi chose not to sign Kohli, who was picked by RCB.

Delhi's IPL 2008 auction blunder

Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) star batter Virat Kohli will walk out onto the field in front of his home crowd when the side takes on Delhi Capitals the IPL 2025 clash at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi on Sunday, April 27.

Kohli will not only play in front of his home crowd in Delhi but also in front of the pavilion named after him at the stadium, a poignant reminder of the city where he began his cricketing journey and where a major opportunity was missed by Delhi Daredevils (now Delhi Capitals) back in 2008. As the IPL has turned 18, Kohli remains the only to have represented one team in the history of Indian Premier League. Had Delhi Daredevils signed Kohli back in 2008, they would have been the franchise to boast a player who never changed teams.

How a blunder by Delhi Daredevils became a gain for Royal Challengers Bangalore?

Delhi identified 3 young local players

Ahead of the launch of the first edition of the Indian Premier League in 2008, Delhi Daredevils, as they were then known, began lining up local players for the first squad. The franchise signed Virender Sehwag as their ‘icon’ player, with the former India opener hailing from Delhi. In the mandatory U-22 category, Delhi identified three local players: Virat Kohli, Pradeep Sangwan, and Tanmay Srivastava. Kohli was already making a name for himself, having led India to U19 World Cup triumph in 2008 and represented Delhi in the Ranji Trophy and white-ball cricket. On paper, it seemed like a perfect match.

Why did Delhi not sign Kohli before the IPL 2008 auction?

Delhi Daredevils were ready to sign Virat Kohli and two other local players from U-22 category before the IPL 2008 auction. However, Royal Challengers Bangalore (formerly known as) manager Charu Sharma, complained to owner Vijaya Mallaya about their first choice Manish Pandey was being pestered by other franchises with better deals and perks. 

This led to BCCI's intervention, announcing a separate Under-19 draft from which franchises would pick players. Thus, Delhi Daredevils and other 7 IPL franchises, halted the signing of U19 players, and waited for the special draft to complete the process at the first auction of the tournament in 2008.. With this, Delhi-based IPL franchise lost an opportunity to sign Virat Kohli directly before the IPL 2008 Auction.

How Delhi Daredevils made an IPL auction blunder?

After all eight franchises signed international and senior players at the IPL 2008 auction, the next phase was the U19 draft, where each team at the table had two picks to select young Indian talents. When Delhi Daredevils got the first pick, many were expected to go for Virat Kohli, who was their initial choice ahead of the IPL auction. But, to the surprise of many, Delhi snapped Pradeep Sangwan, another local player from Delhi. 

Royal Challengers Bengaluru got the second pick and wasted no time to secure the services of Virat Kohli for $50,000 (INR 12 lakh). Before picking Kohli, RCB had already signed a few high-profile international and Indian players, including Mark Boucher, Zaheer Khan, Jacques Kallis, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Ross Taylor, Dale Steyn, Anil Kumble, and Vinay Kumar. RCB’s initial target, Manish Pandey went to Mumbai Indians.

Why did Delhi pick Pradeep Sangwan?

Delhi Daredevils’ decision not to go for Virat Kohli at the IPL 2008 Auction despite being one of their initial targets, stemmed from the belief that they had already stacked strong batting line-up, which includes Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, AB de Villiers, Tilakarantne Dilshan, Dinesh Karthik, and a few others. 

Delhi wanted a young promising bowler in their squad and picked left-arm seamer Pradeep Sangwan, who was highly rated for his pace and potential. He was not only Delhi’s one of the first targets before the auction but was also with Virat Kohli’s U19 Indian Team at the U19 World Cup. Sangwan played three IPL seasons for Daredevils, picking 29 wickets in 28 matches. Thereafter, he plied his trade for Kolkata Knight Riders, Mumbai Indians, Gujarat Lions, and Gujarat Titans.

Delhi’s IPL auction blunder a gain for RCB

The blunder by Delhi Daredevils at the IPL 2008 Auction proved to be costly, as it allowed Royal Challengers Bengaluru to pick Virat Kohli, who would go on to become one of the greatest players and a face of the franchise. 

Delhi’s decision to invest in a bowler despite a strong batting line-up left them regretting as the franchise lost out on an opportunity to sign one of the greatest players, who would go on to define the legacy of RCB and become a global cricketing icon. Over the last 17 IPL seasons, Delhi Daredevils, later renamed to Delhi Capitals in 2018, failed to build a winning-team as they still quest for the maiden IPL title.