The inaugural auction of the Indian Premier League set the groundwork for the tournament to evolve into a grandiose event in the future. Nevertheless, the league encountered a shaky start due to players’ skepticism towards the entire auction process.
Indian Premier League when players heard about it first?
Virender Sehwag, a prominent player in the inaugural season of the Indian Premier League, has recently shared details about the Indian players’ initial response upon learning about the auction. According to the Delhi batsman, the Indian team first heard about the auction during their tour of Australia in 2007/08. The auction itself took place on February 20, 2008.
“It has been a while, the kids have grown up, they are playing cricket now so it does feel like we have grown up. I can never forget the day we were briefed for the first time,” said Sehwag. The former Indian opener further said that former Indian cricketers Sunil Gavaskar and Ravi Shastri were the first to approach the players with the idea.”
“We were in Australia. Sunil Gavaskar and Ravi Shastri approached us. They said that there is this thing called the Indian Premier League that is going to happen. They were asking us to give them all our rights. We were wondering if this league will really be a success or not. We are giving all our rights but then what if we end up getting nothing for it,”
said the Nawab of Najafgarh.
“But they made sure that we understand that it is going to become a very big league in the future. Whatever rights you give to this league, you will be earning far more than what you are now. The money was a secondary factor of course, but at the time we never imagined that it would become such a big platform where new players will get chances and they will end up replacing us,”
he said.
Sehwag was picked by his home team
During the inaugural IPL auction, Delhi Daredevils (now Delhi Capitals) purchased Virender Sehwag. He served as the team’s captain for two seasons before relinquishing the position to Gautam Gambhir. Despite playing in eight IPL seasons, Sehwag was unable to secure a championship victory.
Following his stint with Delhi, he joined Kings XI Punjab, which has since been rebranded as Punjab Kings. In 2014, he helped the team reach the final. Over the course of his IPL career, he participated in 104 matches. He scored 2728 runs at an average of 27.56 and a strike rate of 155.44. Notably, he recorded 16 half-centuries and two centuries during his time in the Indian Premier League.
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