Manish Bisi, the native of a nondescript village in Chhattisgarh, is on cloud nine. He got a call from Virat Kohli.
The youth in his 20s has a SIM card to thank for the happenstance.
“My life’s goal is fulfilled. I got to speak to Kohli because of this wrong number,” a beaming Bisi told TV channels.
On June 28, the resident of Maragaon village in Gariaband district purchased a new SIM card from a mobile shop. When his friend Khemraj helped set up WhatsApp on the new SIM, the display picture was that of Rajat Patidar, the Madhya Pradesh batsman and off-spinner who led the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) to its first IPL victory earlier this year.
The duo brushed it off as a glitch, but were soon stunned by calls from Kohli and AB
de Villiers.
“Hum M.S. Dhoni bol rahe hain,” Bisi had even told Kohli once, assuming he was getting prank calls.
On July 15, a caller introduced himself as Patidar and said that the number Bisi was using was his. “Brother, please return my SIM,” Patidar requested.
Still believing it to be a part of an elaborate hoax, Bisi and Khemraj played along until Patidar said he would send cops to sort out the matter.
According to reports, Patidar contacted the Madhya Pradesh Police, who traced the phone to Maragaon and contacted their Chhattisgarh counterparts. They sent a team to Bisi’s doorstep the same day, putting to rest any suspicion that it was a prank. Bisi handed them the SIM card.
Police sources said the SIM, which was once used by Patidar, was deactivated after 90 days of inactivity and was reassigned to a new customer, which in this case was Bisi.
But Bisi is regretting none of it. The mix-up has helped him realise his dream and brought him instant fame.
The villagers are overjoyed because most of them are RCB fans and talking to Kohli and de Villiers is nothing short of a dream, said Bisi’s brother Deshbandhu.
“Even if it was all because of a mix-up, these conversations happened out of sheer luck. People just dream of seeing them, we got to speak to them,” Deshbandhu gushed.