How R Ashwin was tricked by a ‘Devon Conway’ impersonator into almost revealing Virat Kohli’s number

R Ashwin reveals how he almost gave Virat Kohli's contact to a scammer. (Photo: IPL)

A humorous story surfaced a few days ago about a man from Chhattisgarh who purchased a SIM card from a nearby store that sent him on an unimaginable journey. A SIM card that had previously coincidentally belonged to Rajat Patidar was purchased by Manish Bisi, a young guy from Madagaon hamlet in the Gariaband area of Chhattisgarh.

Soon, Bisi was answering calls from cricket greats like AB de Villiers and Virat Kohli. The Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) captain Patidar's profile image, which Manish and his friend Khemraj initially believed to be a system error after installing WhatsApp, quickly proved to be as authentic as the voices on the other end of the phone line.

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Manish and Khemraj were quickly drawn into a world of incredulity when callers posed as Yash Dayal, de Villiers, and Kohli. Despite their best efforts to stay realistic, the two believed that these were all part of a complex practical joke pulled by pals.

According to Khemraj, the two even cooperated.  The narrative changed course on July 15 when Patidar fervently contacted and asked, "Brother, please return my SIM."

Hearing about the incident, India spinner Ravichandran Ashwin recalled how he nearly fell victim to fraud following the 2025 Indian Premier League by handing out Virat Kohli's phone number. Ashwin, who retired from international cricket last year but is still playing in the IPL, claimed that a prankster posing as his CSK teammate "Devon Conway" almost tricked 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."