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Bus Driver's Advise To Himanshu Sangwan On How To Get Virat Kohli Out
Follow Us"The bus in which we were traveling, even the bus driver told me that you know that you need to bowl at the fourth-fifth stump line to Virat Kohli, and then he will get out."
Railways’ Himanshu Sangwan has been one of the most talked about Indian cricketers in the last few days. The reason? Well, the 29-year-old seamer knocked over India’s star batter, Virat Kohli, in his return to the Ranji Trophy after 13 years. Playing for Delhi, Kohli scored six runs before getting knocked over by a superb inswinger from Sangwan.
It was a different sort of dismissal for Kohli, who got out nicking to the wicketkeeper or the slip cordon in each of his innings in Australia. ‘Keep bowling on the fourth-fifth stump line and Kohli will eventually edge one to someone behind the wicket.’ - this has been a common game-plan for every bowler bowling to Kohli.
When Sangwan was travelling to the Arun Jaitley Stadium for the match against Delhi, the team bus driver advised him the same. "Before the match, there were talks about Virat Kohli and Rishabh Pant going to play for Delhi. At the time, we didn't know that the match would be aired live. We slowly learned that Rishabh Pant wouldn't play, but Virat would, and the match would be streamed live. I am leading the Railways' pace attack. Every team member told me that they thought I would dismiss Virat Kohli," Sangwan told Hindustan Times.
"The bus in which we were travelling, even the bus driver told me that you know that you need to bowl at the fourth-fifth stump line to Virat Kohli, and then he will get out. I had self-belief. I just wanted to focus on my own strengths rather than someone else's weaknesses. I bowled to my strengths and ended up getting the wicket.”
Sangwan, who has 81 wickets in 24 first-class games at an average of 19.61, said he didn’t really have a set plan for Kohli, who congratulated him after the end of the innings. "There was no specific plan for Virat Kohli in general. The coaches told us that the players from Delhi like to play attacking cricket. They are all stroke players. We were told to bowl a disciplined line," said Sangwan.
"When our innings ended, I was going to the dressing room and Virat Kohli was coming to the field. Ayush Badoni and Virat were there. Virat Bhaiya himself shook hands with me and said, 'Very well bowled'. He told me that I was bowling well.
“I then told him I wanted to take a picture with him during the lunch break. I went to Delhi's dressing room. I took the same ball with which I got him out. He even asked me whether it was the same ball. He then said jokingly, 'Oh teri ki. Maza aa gaya tujhe toh'."
Talking about how his life has changed since dismissing Kohli, Sangwan said: "After this match, my life has changed. When I returned home, there were 300 missed calls and 200-230 messages. I always had my Instagram account as private. I am getting so much love, and my follower count is also increasing. I have made my Instagram profile public now.
"This is the biggest crowd that I have ever seen. None of our coaches and players hadn't seen a crowd like this before. We were getting the feeling of an international match. I would say the feeling was even better than an international match because in an international, you hear cheers for different players such as Hardik, Shami, and Bumrah. But here, there were just 'Virat Virat' chants. I had a lot of fun playing in Delhi.”
