Pradeep Sangwan

Shubro Mukherjee ∙ 2 Feb 2022

'It was absolutely crazy'- Virat Kohli opens up about his emotions on getting picked by RCB in 2008

Former India and Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) skipper Virat Kohli recently opened up about his reaction after he got picked by the franchise during the inaugural IPL auction back in 2008. Kohli, who was leading the side in the 2008 U-19 World Cup in Malaysia, admitted that he couldn't believe the amount he was bought by the Bengaluru franchise. Kohli was picked for USD 30,000 during the inaugural IPL auctions. Speaking to Danish Sait in a podcast for RCB, Kohli said: "We were all in Malaysia for the U-19 World Cup. I remember the day when the drafts were happening. The U19 dynamic was a little different. That was the only time where I saw a restriction on how much you can be picked for if you haven’t played for India,” "So that for us, I remember even that moment for us was so amazing. Because of the amount that we got picked for when they announced it, we couldn’t believe it because it was absolutely crazy,” he added. Kohli managed just 165 runs in the first season. In the next two seasons, he managed 246 and 307 runs respectively but given the fact that his stock as an Indian cricketer was on the rise, he was the only player who was retained by RCB in the 2011 auction. He drew a whopping sum of INR 8.28 crore. The champion cricketer was named RCB skipper in 2013. In 2018, he broke all the records after he was retained for a whopping sum of INR 17 Crore. ‘I feel like was such an impactful moment in my life’- Virat Kohli on RCB picking him in 2008 Kohli also recalled how there was a conversation at the time that the Delhi franchise were looking to grab his services. However, the franchise eventually went for left-arm seamer Pradeep Sangwan, who was a part of the U-19 side, which Kohli led to glory. "There was one conversation where I heard from people that the Delhi team was interested to go after me but the dynamic of their team was such that they went for Pradeep Sangwan, who was a left-arm seamer. An amazing bowler, at that time he was our best bowler in the U-19 team. So Delhi decided to go for him because they wanted the bowling strength,” he said. The former skipper termed RCB picking him as the 'impactful moment' in his life. He again reiterated his desire to retire from the IPL in RCB colours. "RCB picked me, that I think, in hindsight, I feel like was such an impactful moment in my life that I didn't realise at that time. But now when I look back, things would have been very different to what they are now. I do not want to have it any other way than this," he said. After having led RCB for eight seasons, Virat relinquished the leadership duties post the 2021 season. He was retained for INR 15 Crore by the franchise ahead of the mega auction. Kohli remains the only player to represent a single franchise since the inception of the IPL. He also happens to be the leading run-scorer in the competition's history. In 199 games, he has scored 6076 runs at an average of 37.98 and a strike rate of 130.41, including 45 half-centuries and 5 hundreds.