Who doesn’t want to interact with their favourite cricketers? A chance to speak to Virat Kohli, millions in the country are waiting for this opportunity. The dream came true for a man in Madagaon village in Chhattisgarh’s Gariaband district as he got the chance to interact with Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers, albeit for a few seconds. The twenty-something Manish Bisi and his friend Khemraj at first thought that they had been subjected to some kind of prank. However, reality dawned sooner than they expected.
It all happened after a SIM card used by Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) captain Rajat Patidar came alive after being reactivated by the service provider.
According to news agency PTI, Manish, son of farmer Gajendra Bisi, purchased a new Jio SIM from a mobile shop in Deobhog on June 28. As soon as WhatsApp was set up using the new SIM, the display picture was of Rajat Patidar.
Manish and Khemraj initially dismissed the proceedings as a glitch. However, soon, the room for all jokes disappeared as the duo started receiving calls from Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers and Yash Dayal.
Speaking to news agency PTI, Khemraj, who is an ardent Kohli fan, said he was ecstatic to hear the voice of AB de Villiers despite not understanding a word he said as the former South Africa captain spoke in English.
He also said that Virat Kohli and Yash Dayal asked him why he was using Rajat Patidar’s number.
“I never imagined I would speak to Virat Kohli one day, and that too from our village. When AB de Villiers called, he spoke in English. We couldn’t understand a word, but we were so thrilled,” he said.
“When Manish used to get calls, he would hand over the phone to me. The callers who identified themselves as Virat Kohli and Yash Dayal asked us why we were using Patidar’s number. We explained to them we had bought a new SIM and this is our number,” he added.
Role of Rajat Patidar
On July 15, Rajat Patidar also called the said individuals, asking them to return his SIM. When the RCB captain called, Manish and Khemraj believed it to be a joke. However, they soon realised the seriousness of the matter when Patidar threatened to send the police to resolve the matter.
Gariaband Deputy Superintendent of Police Neha Sinha later clarified that the SIM was deactivated after 90 days as per telecom policy and then reassigned to a new customer, Manish.
“Manish was actually getting calls from cricketers who were in contact with Rajat Patidar. Patidar informed the Madhya Pradesh Cyber Cell that his number had been allotted to someone else and requested to have it back,” she was quoted as saying by PTI.
The SIM card drama might be too hard to believe, but Manish and Khemraj are not complaining. Their lifelong dream of speaking to Virat Kohli came true.
“Even if it was all due to a mix-up, these conversations happened out of sheer luck. People just dream of seeing them, we got to speak to them,” Manish’s brother Deshbandhu Bisi said.
www.hindustantimes.com
#Virat #Kohli #Villiers #spoke #Chhattisgarh #youths #chat #RCB #legends #simcard #drama
