Virender Sehwag was CSK's first choice ahead of MS Dhoni in IPL 2008: S Badrinath

The 13th season of the Indian Premier League is just around the corner, and fans can’t keep up with their excitement. Also, players and former players have been getting vocal in sharing their experiences related to their teams. Amid this, former Chennai Super Kings batsman S Badrinath has revealed that the franchise’s priority in the inaugural season of IPL was Virender Sehwag but eventually decided to go on with MS Dhoni.

Badrinath recalled that the Chennai-based franchise had thought of ace batsman Sehwag as their preferred choice for the role of skipper. However, things didn’t materialize that way because he decided to stick with Delhi only as he belonged to the same place and represented the state at the domestic level too.

It forced the management to think of MSD as their right fit. The Ranchi Stalwart turned out to be the most-expensive signing of first-ever IPL and led the Yellow Army to lift three titles in the tournament.

“IPL started in 2008, and if you see who the first option for Chennai Super Kings was, it was Virender Sehwag. The management had decided on picking Sehwag for sure, but Sehwag himself said that he was brought up in Delhi, so, he would have a better connection,” said Badrinath as quoted by Hindustan Times.

There is no trophy that MSD doesn’t have: S Badrinath

The management agreed for Sehwag to ply trade for Delhi, and then in between, India also lifted the 2007 World T20 under the brilliant guidance of MSD. The same heroics became instrumental in his selection for the IPL and tagged him as the most expensive buy. He was bough roped in at whopping INR 6 crores.

“Then came the auctions, and they saw who was the better player, and before that India won the 2007 World T20. And only then did they decide to sign Dhoni. In 2008, MS Dhoni was the most expensive player, they bought him for INR 6 crores.

So this is a story you probably don’t know, but Dhoni was picked instead of Sehwag. According to me, MS Dhoni coming to CSK was killing three birds with one stone. One, he is one of the best captains the world has ever seen. There is no trophy that he doesn’t have,” he concluded.