When Delhi Rejected Virat Kohli For Pradeep Sangwan In IPL, Virender Sehwag Reveals Full Story

Former India opener Virender Sehwag has recalled why Delhi Daredevils (now Delhi Capitals) opted for Pradeep Sangwan instead of a young Virat Kohli during the inaugural Indian Premier League (IPL) season in 2008, citing team balance and a lack of bowling options at the time. Speaking on JioHotstar, JioStar expert Sehwag said the franchise had a packed top-order batting line-up, which made it difficult 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 Tillakaratne 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 into the batting order," Sehwag said.

He added that Kohli was also batting in the top order, but the team was forced to prioritise bowling resources due to squad composition.

"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.

During the inaugural IPL season, Royal Challengers Bangalore (now Bengaluru) picked the young Kohli for Rs 12 lakh at the auction. Kohli then went on to become one of the most successful players in the franchise's history.

Representing the Bengaluru-based franchise, Kohli has amassed 8,889 runs in 272 matches and 262 innings in IPL history. The right-handed batter has smashed eight centuries and 65 half-centuries at an average of 39.86.

In the ongoing IPL 2026 season, Kohli is the leading run-getter with 228 runs in five matches, including two fifties.

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Topics mentioned in this article

Virender Sehwag Virat Kohli Pradeep Sangwan IPL 2026 Cricket