Raipur, Aug. 11 -- What started as the purchase of a routine SIM card has turned into a once-in-a-lifetime experience for a 20-something year old resident of Gariaband district of Chhattisgarh, who unexpectedly found himself speaking to cricket icons Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers. The twist? The number had once belonged to Indian cricketer and Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) captain Rajat Patidar, which was reactivated after lying unused for months. The unusual chain of events began on June 28 when Manish Bisi, a resident of Madagaon, purchased a new Jio SIM card from a shop in Deobhog, 8km from his village, officials said. When Manish's friend Khemraj helped set up a WhatsApp account with his new number, they found an existing account with the display picture of Patidar. At first, they dismissed it as a glitch - until phone calls started coming in from Kohli, de Villiers, and RCB player Yash Dayal, they said. Believing it to be an elaborate prank by friends -- given the sheer improbability of such incidents, the two played along. But, on July 15, a call arrived from Patidar himself, requesting "Brother, please return my SIM." Still thinking it might be a joke, the duo's doubts vanished when Patidar mentioned sending the police and within minutes a police team arrived. Gariaband deputy superintendent of police Neha Sinha explained that the SIM had been deactivated after 90 days of inactivity and reassigned to a new customer, in line with telecom policy. "Patidar informed the Madhya Pradesh Cyber Cell that his number had been allotted to someone else and requested to have it back," she said. The MP Cyber Cell contacted Gariaband police, who spoke with Manish and his family. With their consent, the SIM was recently returned to Patidar. "There was no legal issue or fault on anyone's part - it was simply a result of standard telecom procedures," Sinha added. For Manish, Khemraj, and their families, the incident has been nothing short of a dream. Khemraj, an ardent Kohli fan, said, "I never imagined I would speak to Kohli one day, and that too from our village. When de Villiers called, he spoke in English, we couldn't understand a word, but we were thrilled."...