IPL throwback: Virat Kohli snapped up by RCB after being SNUBBED by a franchise in 2008

In the last decade, Virat Kohli has established himself as one of the best batsmen to have ever played the gentlemen's game. The Indian skipper seems almost inseparable from the RCB team in the IPL as he is about to lead them into their 13th attempt at getting their hands on an Indian Premier League (IPL) trophy. Things could have been very different though as it was only because of another team letting go off an opportunity to snap Kohli that the RCB team could get their hands on the then-20-year-old India U19 captain.

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IPL: RCB team's gain is Delhi Capitals' loss?

Ahead of the inaugural edition of the IPL in 2008, a draft was held for the Indian Under-19 players along with the second auction for the formation of the main teams. The Indian Under-19 team had just won the World Cup less than ten days ago under the captaincy of Virat Kohli. The newly-formed IPL franchises now had a chance to avail the services of these players.

In the draft system, each team is assigned a random spot through which they can make a pick from the available pool of players. The Delhi Capitals got the first pick of the Under-19 draft and chose to splurge their cash on pacer Pradeep Sangwan. It was only because of this that the Royal Challengers Bangalore could pick up Virat Kohli. It is interesting to reflect on how different things could have been had the Capitals picked Kohli instead of Sangwan, who is nowhere to be seen in cricket nowadays.

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Virat Kohli stats

When you look at Pradeep Sangwan's IPL career, the pacer could only take 35 wickets in 39 matches and has not played the IPL since 2018 and Sangwan is yet to represent the country at the highest level. Meanwhile, Kohli's first two seasons in the IPL were quiet but the Delhi youngster picked up pace and broke through into the Team India squad, while dominating the IPL. Today, not only is Kohli one of the best batsmen in the world, the 31-year-old is often touted as the one who will break all of Sachin Tendulkar's imperious records.

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The skipper of the Indian team became RCB's full-time skipper in 2013 and is currently the IPL's highest-ever run-scorer. He has had magical seasons like 2016 where he scored 973 runs in just 16 matches and hit four centuries. Kohli will continue to lead the newly-rebranded RCB in IPL 2020.

RCB logo

The RCB team came out with a new RCB logo on February 14 this year on the occasion of Valentine's Day, that created a lot of buzz amongst its fans. While some were critical of the RCB logo and the RCB team's promotional strategies, others like Virat Kohli were impressed and hoped that it can inspire the team to a new beginning this decade.

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