Former India opener Virender Sehwag has explained why Delhi Daredevils, now Delhi Capitals, selected Pradeep Sangwan instead of a young Virat Kohli during the inaugural Indian Premier League (IPL) season in 2008, citing the need for bowling options and team balance.
Speaking on JioHotstar as a JioStar expert, Sehwag said the franchise had a strong top-order batting line-up, making it challenging to accommodate all players in the XI.
“So at Delhi Daredevils back in 2008, the inaugural IPL season, I remember Shikhar Dhawan was also in our team along with Tilakratne Dilshan. Both of them were openers, but we used to make them bat at three and five because Gautam and I used to open the innings. Manoj Tiwary had taken the number four spot. So we had a lot of top-order batters in the team, and it was becoming difficult to fit all of them in the batting order,” Sehwag said.
He added that Kohli was batting in the top order but the composition of the squad necessitated prioritising bowling resources.
“At that time, Virat Kohli was also batting at number three or four. So we didn’t even have space to bring him in. We lacked a bowler, so we decided to go with Pradeep Sangwan instead of Kohli,” he said.
In the inaugural IPL season, Royal Challengers Bangalore, now Royal Challengers Bengaluru, acquired the young Kohli for Rs 12 Lakh during the auction. Kohli went on to become one of the franchise’s most successful players.
Representing the Bengaluru-based team, Kohli has scored 8,889 runs in 272 matches and 262 innings in IPL history. The right-handed batter has made eight centuries and 65 half-centuries, with an average of 39.86.
In the ongoing IPL 2026 season, Kohli leads the run charts with 228 runs in five matches, including two half-centuries.