'I was the one who picked him' - Vijay Mallya recalls choosing Virat Kohli for IPL 2008
The amount of resilience, skills, and loyalty Virat Kohli has shown for one club to win the IPL trophy is absolutely rare; there are very few players out there to remain loyal from the beginning of the tournament until today. Kohli is one of them. Naturally, when Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) conquered the 2025 season of the Indian Premier League, all the celebrations were around the former skipper.
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The amount of resilience, skills, and loyalty Virat Kohli has shown for one club to win the IPL trophy is absolutely rare; there are very few players out there to remain loyal from the beginning of the tournament until today. Kohli is one of them.
Naturally, when Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) conquered the 2025 season of the Indian Premier League, all the celebrations were around the former skipper. Cricket fans had started to recall the early days when Virat was an emerging cricketer and joined Royal Challengers Bengaluru. Like the league, the then-emerging player also showed lots of potential.
Like normal fans of Kohli or RCB around the globe, the franchise's first owner and fugitive businessman Vijay Mallya also recalled those early days. Why did his franchise opt to bring in a young Delhi batter? Mallya faced the question in a podcast.
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In a sense of proclamation, Mallya claimed that he could sense something special about the talent from the U19 national squad, and without making any delay, he bid for young Virat Kohli. The squad of RCB back in those days contained legends like Rahul Dravid, Anil Kumble, Zaheer Khan, and Jacques Kallis, and along with them a bunch of budding talent, including Virat.
Mallya was impressed to watch a U19 Virat Kohli
"I handpicked players who could make RCB a powerhouse. My biggest pride was spotting Virat Kohli, a youngster from the Under-19 World Cup team. My inner instinct told me he was special, and I bid for him. Getting Rahul Dravid as our icon player was a no-brainer—he was Bangalore's pride. We also brought in global stars like Jacques Kallis, Anil Kumble, and Zaheer Khan. I wanted a mix of local heroes and international flair. My dream was to bring the IPL trophy to Bangalore, and I built the team with that goal," Mallya said this on a podcast.
"Shortly before the actual selection process, they were playing the U-19 World Cup, and I was very impressed with him. So, I picked him, and it's wonderful; 18 years later, he is still there." That's what Vijay Mallya said about Virat Kohli.
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