Himanshu Sangwan reacts to 'manifesting Virat Kohli's wicket', comes out with truth about pre-match Instagram activity
Himanshu Sangwan, who dismissed Virat Kohli for 6 on his Ranji Trophy comeback, reveals whether he made any changes to his Instagram settings.
And just like that, it was all over. Virat Kohli's much-awaited return to Ranji Trophy lasted just 15 balls. The Indian cricket icon walked out to bat to a thunderous roar from the tens of thousands that had gathered at Delhi's Arun Jaitley Stadium on Friday, but their cheers soon turned into pin-drop silence when Railways pacer Himanshu Sangwan sent Kohli's off-stump swinging for just 6. A wait of 12 years ended in barely 23 minutes.
Kohli had drilled the previous ball past Sangwan down the ground for a bludgeoning boundary. The decibel levels reached an all-time high. Coach Sarandeep Singh applauded the stroke, as did the rest of Kohli's teammates. This is what the public had come to see… and some more. The start was promising. Could this have been Kohli's return to form? So it seemed. Until. Until the very next ball, Kohli attempted a repeat of that stroke. A chip down the wicket, getting in line of the ball, the alignment was pretty much there. What wasn't, though, was the length of the ball. This one wasn't as full, and just when Kohli was done swinging his bat, the ball cannoned into his off-stump with the dreaded sound of timber.
Sangwan was over the moon. And rightly so. The 29-year-old has a story to tell his grandkids. In 24 First-Class games, there is and probably won't be a bigger wicket than Virat Kohli. His head had dropped the previous ball. He knew he had pitched it too full. But on his way back to the run-up, Sangwan treated it like a forgotten chapter and started fresh. Everything was similar. The release, the line, the swing. Only the length wasn't. Kohli, foxed by it, played through the line, and that was that. He may get another opportunity to bat, but it's highly unlikely, given captain Ayush Badoni's brilliant innings of 99.
Sangwan made Instagram profile private before bowling today
Of the 79 First-Class wickets Sangwan has picked – and counting – no prizes of guessing who'd be at the top of his list. His reaction said a lot more than what met the eyes. He had probably prepared himself for this moment. Social media was abuzz with information that before coming into the ground for Day 2 of the game, aware that he would have a crack at Kohli, Sangwan made his public profile private to get away from all the abuse and hate messages. Previously, rookie bowlers have faced public ire, fans' wrath and trolls every time they have dismissed one of their icons. Some even wrote that Sangwan did this because he 'manifested Kohli's wicket'; however, revealing the truth about all the wild speculations, Sangwan cleared the air once and for all.
"I have always kept my Instagram account as private. It is not like that I made my account private ahead of the match against Delhi," he said after the end of the day's play.
However, just because Sangwan escaped the wrath didn't mean other did too. Another individual going by the name 'Himanshu Sangwan', in a case of mistaken identity, faced plenty of abuses and hate, to the extent that he had to put out an Instagram story stating, 'I am not the cricketer Himanshu Sangwan whom people are mistaking me for'. Even former pacer Pradeep Sangwan, Kohli's former Delhi teammate, had seme lewd and distasteful comments flooding his Instagram posts.
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