Virender Sehwag is reckoned as one of the most destructive openers ever witnessed by international cricket. He was one of the high profile in the Indian Premier League due to his ability to get off the mark in the game from the word go.
He was picked by Delhi Daredevils now known as Delhi Capitals before the auction took place back in 2008. At that time, Delhi made him their icon player giving him a whopping pay. He had an exceptional stint with the bat for Delhi Capitals and smashed 2382 runs in just 86 games at a very impressive strike rate. Although, he bid adieu to IPL long back. But, still, he is the 2nd leading run-scorer of DC after Rishabh Pant, who has smashed 2498 runs in 84 games.
Punjab Kings defeated Mumbai Indians for Virender Sehwag in IPL 2014 auction
However, Sehwag’s association with Delhi based franchise came to end in a very unexpected fashion. Back in 2014, DC released all the players into the auction pool as they didn’t retain a single-player and were looking for an overhaul.
Meanwhile, Virender Sehwag was also not part of Team India’s squad and everyone thought franchises will splash a big amount on the destructive opener. But that was not the case, although his name engaged Mumbai Indians and Punjab Kings in a bidding war.
There was no initiative taken by all the franchises when Virender Sehwag’s name was announced by the then auctioneer Richard Madely. It looked like no team wants to bid for the former Indian opener. But, in the final few moments, Punjab Kings made a bid for the name of Sehwag. Later on, Mumbai Indians also joined the party and were involved in a bidding war with the 2014 season finalist.
Finally, Mumbai Indians backed out when Punjab Kings made a hefty bid of INR 3.2 Crores and Sehwag was all set to make a debut for the Kings in the 2014 edition. Many cricket fans and franchises thought that Delhi use their “right to match” card for the opener. But, they were not interested in their 2008 iconic player.
In the 2014 edition, Sehwag stormed Punjab Kings into the finals with his impeccable batting form. He smashed 455 runs in 17 games with the help of one century and as many fifties.
