This story was first published on ESPNcricinfo Hindi. Below is a translated version.
On Friday, when the second day of the Delhi vs Railways Ranji Trophy match began, the fans were waiting eagerly for a Delhi wicket so that they could see their hero, Virat Kohli, bat. But Delhi's overnight batters Sanat Sangwan and Yash Dhull made them wait for an hour. During their 67-run partnership for the second wicket, the spectators kept getting impatient and kept demanding a wicket from the Railways bowlers.
However, when their wait ended, the joy did not last long. After only 23 minutes and 15 balls in the middle, Kohli was back in the pavilion for 6. This was a disappointing end to Kohli's first innings in the Ranji Trophy after 12 years, and the stadium, which was reverberating with chants of "Kohli, Kohli... RCB, RCB" a while back was now completely silent.
The man responsible for this was Railways' right-arm fast bowler Himanshu Sangwan. Posted as a senior ticket collector at the New Delhi Railway Station, Sangwan bowled a good-length ball to Kohli. The batter took a step forward to drive it down the ground but the ball came in, beat his inside edge, and sent his off stump cartwheeling. Just one ball before this, Kohli had nailed the same shot off a similar length. Not this time.
In the previous over, Kunal Yadav had beaten Kohli outside off stump on two successive deliveries. Perhaps to avoid that, Kohli charged at Sangwan and lost his wicket in the process. It was undoubtedly the biggest wicket of Sangwan's career, and he celebrated it by punching the air and clenching his teeth.
"We did not have any special plan for Kohli," Sangwan said after the day's play. "Since all Delhi batters play aggressive cricket, our plan was to bowl in the channel. If you do not give runs to an aggressive batter, he will try a big shot and get out. Perhaps the same happened with him."
Talking about his reaction after the wicket, Sangwan said: "That was my natural celebration. If you have seen me playing before, I always celebrate my wicket like this. I did not do anything different there."
Sangwan, 29, was born in Charkhi Dadri, Haryana. But his father's job meant he spent his childhood in Jhunjhunu, Rajasthan. Like most Indian boys, he has been playing cricket since childhood, but in 2008, when Virat Kohli's team won the Under-19 World Cup, he was very impressed by fast bowler Pradeep Sangwan, the guy with the same surname as him, and started dreaming of becoming a fast bowler like him.
To focus on cricket, he moved from Jhunjhunu to his uncle's place in Najafgarh, Delhi and started taking coaching there. Incidentally, Pradeep also hails from Najafgarh.
After playing school and club cricket for four-five years, Sangwan was selected in Delhi's Under-19 team and made his debut with Rishabh Pant in the 2013 Vinoo Mankad Trophy. In that 50-over game, he took 1 for 30 from eight overs. But after that, he was never selected for Delhi's junior or senior team.
Disappointed by this, Sangwan decided to play for his home state Haryana. He played district and university cricket there for about three-four years but did not get a chance in senior cricket.
During this time, Sangwan got a job in Indian Railways as a ticket collector through sports quota. In 2018-19, he represented Railways in the Under-23 CK Nayudu Trophy, where he took 37 wickets in seven matches at an average of 18.21. That earned him a place in the senior team for the next season.
Since then, Sangwan has been a key part of Railways' bowling attack. Before the match against Delhi, he had 77 wickets in 23 first-class matches at an average of 19.92. His tally includes international names such as Ajinkya Rahane, Mayank Agarawal, Prithvi Shaw and Ishan Kishan. Apart from this, he has taken 21 wickets in 17 List A matches and five in seven T20s.
"When I was not getting any opportunity, Railways supported me," Sangwan said. They gave me chances, so my first priority is the Railways team. It is nothing like I had to prove something to Delhi for not giving me a chance."