Why Delhi Daredevils picked Pradeep Sangwan ahead of Virat Kohli in the IPL 2008 U-19 draft

In the inaugural Indian Premier League (IPL), unlike the senior players who took part in the auction, U-19 players had a different draft system in which each team was allowed to pick two U-19 cricketers.

Virat Kohli, who had led India to the 2008 U-19 World Cup, was expected to be the first pick in the draft which the Delhi Daredevils (now Delhi Capitals) had the right to.

However, to everyone's surprise, the Daredevils picked left-arm seamer Pradeep Sangwan, paving the way for the current Indian captain to join the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB).

Former IPL Chief Operating Officer Sundar Raman has revealed that the Delhi franchise opted to pass on Virat Kohli as they already had enough batters in their ranks, but needed a quality Indian pacer.

Speaking on the 22 Yarns podcast along with host Gaurav Kapur, Raman discussed the thinking behind the IPL auction system and the U-19 draft.

"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," said Raman.

To this, Kapur replied:

"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."

Raman concurred with Kapur on these statements. Interestingly, Pradeep Sangwan, who played 28 games for Delhi across the first three IPL seasons, is yet to make his debut for the national team.

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VVS Laxman took a pay cut to join IPL side Deccan Chargers

Indian batting great VVS Laxman in action for the Deccan Chargers

Before IPL 2008, VVS Laxman was slated to be the 'icon' player for his home franchise Deccan Chargers.

Since the icon player was to be paid 15% more than the highest-paid player from the auctions, the current Sunrisers Hyderabad ment opted out of the deal that was offered to him.

This allowed the franchise to spend more money on players in the auction, while still staying within the boundaries of the permissible salary cap (USD 5 million).

With most teams feeling that the icon was a burden more than anything else, the Chennai Super Kings, who were without a marquee cricketer, managed to snaffle MS Dhoni in the auction in a lucky break.