After the IPL ended, Ravichandran Ashwin received a message from someone claiming to be Devon Conway, asking for Virat Kohli’s phone number. Ashwin was about to share it, but something felt off.
It’s quite an interesting story, so stick around till the end, because the climax is how Ashwin managed to trap this scammer.
Speaking on his YouTube channel, former India cricketer Ashwin told that he got into a conversation with this person, who insisted he was his CSK teammate Conway. "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?’
Here, Ashwin suspected something fishy but didn’t say anything directly. "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 added.
"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," Ashwin revealed. That’s when Ashwin decided to trick him.
"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," he concluded.
And just like that, the scammer’s innings ended without scoring a single run — clean bowled by Ashwin’s wit and sharp thinking.
