R Ashwin Gets Scammed By 'Devon Conway' In Giving Virat Kohli's Number: "WhatsApp..."

A few days ago, a hilarious incident came to light where a man from Chhattisgarh bought a SIM card from a local shop that took him on a crazy ride he could hardly have imagined. Manish Bisi, a young man from Madagaon village in Chhattisgarh's Gariaband district, bought a SIM card that once coincidentally belonged to RCB captain Rajat Patidar. Soon, an awestruck Bisi was fielding calls from legends like Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers. What Manish and his friend, Khemraj, thought was a system glitch when they saw the profile picture of Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) captain Patidar after installing WhatsApp soon turned out to be as real as the voices on the other end of the phone line.

Manish and Khemraj were soon sucked into a world of disbelief as callers identified themselves as Kohli, de Villiers, and Yash Dayal, though the two tried to remain grounded in reality, thinking these were all part of some elaborate prank by friends.

In fact, the duo even played along, Khemraj claimed. The story took a turn when, on July 15, Patidar himself called with a fervent, “Brother, please return my SIM.”

When India spin great Ravichandran Ashwin was told the incident, he recalled how he was almost scammed into giving out Virat Kohli's number after IPL 2025. Ashwin, who retired from international cricket last year but remains active in the IPL, said a prankster, who went by the name 'Devon Conway'—his CSK teammate—nearly fooled him.

"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 said 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."

Topics mentioned in this article

Royal Challengers Bengaluru Virat Kohli India Cricket Team Ravichandran Ashwin Rajat Patidar Cricket