Himanshu Sangwan reveals what's on his mind to handle Virat Kohli

The 29-year-old Railways right-arm pacer Himanshu Sangwan came to the limelight after dismissing the former Indian captain Virat Kohli in the latest Ranji Trophy match. He has revealed what’s on his mind when facing the Delhi superstar, Kohli.

Himanshu Sangwan has been playing domestic cricket since late 2019. While he has some good records as the frontline pacer for Railways, their match against Delhi in the last round of the Ranji Trophy 2024-25 group stage was a special game for them. It was the Ranji Trophy return for Kohli after more than 12 years, while his previous Ranji Trophy match was in November 2012.

Talking about that match, Sangwan revealed that there were talks about the presence of Kohli and Rishabh Pant in the Delhi squad. However, Pant ultimately didn’t play after appearing in the previous Ranji match for Delhi, but Kohli returned. 

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I am leading the Railways' pace attack: Himanshu Sangwan

Only one day before the Ranji Trophy match between Delhi and Railways, it was decided that the match would be streamed live, and Railways learned it later. While Sangwan led Railways’ pace attack, everyone hoped for his success against Kohli. 

Talking about the situation before the match, Sangwan told Hindustan Times, "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.”

I just wanted to focus on my own strengths: Sangwan

Kohli only managed to score six runs before Sangwan bowled him. It was a dream wicket for him. Although a bus driver told him to bowl at the fourth-fifth stump line to pick up Kohli’s wicket, Sangwan had self-belief as he only focused on his strengths to achieve success. 

Sangwan added, "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."

After Railways scored 241 runs, Delhi replied with 374 runs. In the third innings, Railways were bundled out for only 114 runs, and Delhi recorded a victory by an innings and 19 runs.