Legendary Indian cricketer Virat Kohli was surprisingly sent back into the pavilion in his first match for Delhi in the Ranji Trophy for more than 12 years. The 36-year-old right-handed batter, playing for Ayush Badoni’s side, was clean bowled by Himanshu Sangwan during Day 2 of the Elite Group D match at Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi, which took place from January 30 to February 1.
Virat Kohli was only able to score six runs off 15 balls before Sangwan breached his defence and rattled his stumps, silencing the thousands of fans who had gathered to watch the cricketing superstar. In an exclusive conversation with Hindustan Times, Himanshu Sangwan spills a little surprise piece of advice he received ahead of the match.
A U-19 player for Delhi, Sangwan candidly revealed that one piece of advice he was given just before the match was about Virat Kohli and Rishabh Pant playing for Delhi.
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“At first, we didn’t know it was going to be live streamed, but as the day progressed, we found out that Pant wasn’t going to play, but Virat was, and it was going to be a live match. I was leading the Railways’ pace attack, and every member of the team said I was likely to get Virat out,” Himanshu Sangwan recalled.
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As the day went along, Sangwan began to forget all about bowling at the sixth stump line because the bus driver advised him over a conversation at a halt in between the trips, “The bus driver told me, ‘You need to bowl at the fourth or fifth stump line to Virat, and he’ll get out.’ I had self-belief, so I focused on my strengths rather than trying to exploit someone else’s weaknesses. I stuck to my game plan, and it worked out perfectly as I got the wicket,” he added.
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The 29-year-old fast bowler from Najafgarh explained that there wasn’t any specific strategy in place to dismiss Kohli. “The coaches had told us that Delhi players, like Kohli, play aggressive cricket and are all stroke players. We were advised to maintain a disciplined line and bowl with focus,” Sangwan said.
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After the match, Sangwan had a memorable interaction with the former India captain. When our innings ended, I was going to the dressing room when Virat Kohli was coming to play. He came and shook my hand and said, ‘Very well bowled.’ He even asked me if it was the same ball with which I dismissed him. He jokingly said, ‘Oh teri ki. Maza aa gaya tujhe toh,'” Sangwan remembered with a smile, and cherished the moment. The loss by an innings and 19 runs in three days does not diminish the memory of the fast bowler’s feat against Kohli.
