Ghariaband (Chattisgarh): What started as an ordinary trip to buy a new SIM card in a remote Chhattisgarh village turned into a surreal experience involving cricket stars, mistaken identity, and a police visit. For Manish BC and his friend Khemraj, the story of how they accidentally found themselves on the VIP contact list of Indian cricket is as comical as it is unexpected.

A routine purchase turns into a cricketing comedy

According to media reports, Manish BC bought a new Reliance Jio SIM card from a mobile shop in Madagaon, a village in the Devbhog area of Chhattisgarh’s Gariaband district, on June 28. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary—until WhatsApp loaded and displayed Rajat Patidar’s photo as the profile picture.

Unknown to Manish, the mobile number he had been assigned had previously belonged to Indian batter Rajat Patidar, who recently led Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) to a historic IPL win against Punjab Kings (PBKS). As per telecom regulations, mobile numbers that remain inactive for more than 90 days are recycled and reassigned to new users. In this case, the deactivated number had landed straight into the hands of two cricket fans with a sense of humour.

“We’re MS Dhoni”

Soon after activating the SIM, calls started pouring in—not from friends or family, but from names that sounded too familiar to be real. One caller claimed, “Hello, I’m Virat Kohli.” Another introduced himself as “AB de Villiers.” Then came the call that truly stirred curiosity. A voice said, “Bhai, I’m Rajat Patidar. That number is mine, please return it.”

Thinking it was a prank, Manish and Khemraj responded, “And we’re MS Dhoni.” Amused, they continued taking the flood of star-studded calls in good humour, occasionally introducing themselves with the same cheeky line.

But Patidar was not joking. He explained that the number was important, connecting him to his coaches, friends, and other cricketing colleagues. Even then, the pair weren’t convinced. That’s when Patidar calmly warned, “Okay, I’ll send the police.”

Police at the door, reality sinks in

Within 10 minutes, local police arrived at Manish’s doorstep. It was no longer a joke. The realisation struck—this wasn’t a prank call after all. Manish and Khemraj had genuinely been speaking to Rajat Patidar.

By then, the number had also received calls from none other than Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers themselves. For Khemraj, a die-hard Kohli fan, the experience was surreal.

“I got to speak to Kohli because of a wrong number. My life’s goal is complete,” he later said, grinning.

Cricket hotline at a village grocery shop

The entire episode turned a quiet village grocery shop into what locals now jokingly refer to as a cricketing hotline. The unlikely saga has become a point of pride in Madagaon, with villagers saying their village is now “on the cricket map.”

The friends returned the SIM card without hesitation, but the memory of their brush with cricket’s elite remains fresh. They now hope Patidar might call again—this time, not for his number, but simply to say thank you.

In the age of smartphones and recycled numbers, it’s perhaps not too far-fetched to imagine that your next phone call might just come from a cricket legend.