NEW DELHI: A man from Madagaon village in Chhattisgarh’s Gariaband district had an unexpected brush with the cricketing world after buying a SIM card that once belonged to Royal Challengers Bengaluru captain
Rajat Patidar. The purchase led to surprise calls from stars like
Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers.
Manish Bisi and his friend Khemraj first grew suspicious when, upon installing WhatsApp on the newly bought SIM from a local shop, they saw Patidar’s profile picture.
Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW!Their curiosity turned to disbelief as they began receiving calls from cricket celebrities including Kohli, de Villiers, and Yash Dayal. At first, they assumed it was a prank by friends — until Patidar himself called on July 15, asking for the SIM card’s return.
The incident prompted Indian spinner Ravichandran Ashwin — who retired from international cricket last year but continues in the IPL — to recall a similar situation in which he nearly fell victim to a scammer impersonating his Chennai Super Kings teammate
Devon Conway.
"After the IPL got over, one guy messaged me, claiming to be Devon Conway, 'Hi buddy, how are you?' and I also responded, 'We'll stay in touch. You're playing in MLC; I'll watch the games.' He then asked, 'I've lost Virat Kohli's number, can you share it?' I thought, why is he asking for Virat's number? I thought I should ask him, but I didn't want Devon Conway to misunderstand. Then I picked Virat Kohli's card and gave him a different number," Ashwin revealed on his YouTube channel.
"Once I shared it, he replied, 'I've lost a few more numbers.' I asked whose numbers, and he responded, '
Rohit Sharma and
MS Dhoni.' I got suspicious and thought somebody was playing a prank. I then asked him a question, 'I gave you a bat this year, how's that bat?' He said the bat is amazing, but I hadn't even given him any bat. He lied, and I blocked him instantly. The guy took a chance. I went back to the CSK group and checked Devon Conway's number, and it was not the same. At least I had the smarts to send the duplicate card of Virat. It was his WhatsApp number in Australia. Thank goodness, because he was asking for everybody's numbers."
These incidents serve as a reminder of the growing need to protect personal information in the digital era, especially for high-profile cricketers.
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