Follow UsIt is an open secret in the public domain that a few Indian Premier League (IPL) owners have directly had a say over their team’s auction strategies. During his tenure as Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB)’s owner, Vijay Mallya was no different, involving himself at the auction, picking up players at his own will.
Back in 2011, during the mega auction, there was an interesting anecdote that surrounded Mallya and RCB. In a podcast with Cyrus Broacha, former KKR director Joy Bhattacharjya revealed that Mallya ‘almost’ ruined RCB’s IPL Auction when he went chasing after Mohammad Kaif, who wasn’t in the team’s plans initially.
“It was a very interesting situation; Mohammad Kaif’s name was taken up (2011 Auction), and Vijay Mallya was there. You had to buy the domestic players at a fixed price. Anil Kumble was in charge, I think, and he had all his domestic players fixed up. So he had to budget 300,000-400,000 for the domestic players,” Joy told Cyrus in an episode of ‘Stories from IPL Auction’ on A Century of Stories.
Joy also added that Anil Kumble, who then was the team’s chief mentor was left shocked by the decision because that left the team short of money for the domestic players that they wanted to buy.
“Kaif was unsold the first time. Sahara [Pune Warriors] wanted to bid for him, so his name came back. Everyone were expecting Kaif to be bought at that price; suddenly, Mallya thought it was a great idea, and he increased the bid. 50,000-60,000 dollars are sold, and looking in horror is Anil Kumble. He’s stuck because he can’t get the two or three domestic players that he wanted to buy,” he added.
“That’s the problem of auction dynamics. For Mallya, those 60-70 lakhs aren’t a problem, but for a guy who has a fixed purse, the actual management is gone out of the window.”
“They have their entire strategy, and it has just gone out of the window.”
The former KKR man also revealed the story behind Virat Kohli's famous move to RCB. He stated that Mallya, who knew little about Kohli except that he was India’s Under-19 captain, snapped him, starting a long-term relationship.
“Virat Kohli is the captain of the U-19 team, West Delhi boy, sure shot he’s going to be picked by Delhi Capitals [then Delhi Daredevils]. There was a draft of who could pick which player, and Delhi had the chance to get the first player, and they picked Pradeep Sangwan.”
“Delhi’s batting unit had Dilshan, Warner, Sehwag, Gambhir, AB de Villiers, Kohli wasn’t going to fit in, at least then. The moment they take Sangwan, Mallya, who knows nothing but knows Kohli is the Under-19 captain, he takes him. In that unlikely circumstance, probably the longest partnership started.”
Since 2008, Kohli has stayed on with RCB, making over 250 appearances for the side and leading them for multiple seasons before giving up the captaincy at the IPL 2022 mega auction. But in a completely different world, Kohli could have well donned that Delhi jersey.