Himanshu Sangwan already had 77 wickets in his kitty in his 23 First-Class matches. Still, he was not a discussed name in the Indian cricket fraternity. 

On Friday, the 29-year-old right-arm fast bowler of Indian Railways engraved his name in the history book of the Ranji Trophy in his 24th First Class match. Despite being hit with a brilliant off-drive in his previous delivery Himanshu did not give up. He maintained the accuracy of line and length in his very next delivery that nipped through Virat Kohli’s defense and sent his off-stump cartwheeling! Nearly 30 thousand fans roaring at Arun Jaitley Stadium turned into an utmost silence within seconds!

The senior ticket collector at New Delhi Railway station, Himanshu’s world seems to have taken a gear after his most memorable wicket in the First-Class cricket so far. He told reporters, “We did not have any special plan for Kohli. Since all Delhi batters play aggressive cricket, we planned 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.”

Sangwan was born in Charkhi Dadri, Haryana. However, due to his father's job, he spent his childhood in Jhunjhunu, Rajasthan. He also has been playing cricket since childhood, but he was inspired by fast bowler Pradip Sangwan when under Virat Kohli's leadership team won the Under-19 World Cup in 2008. 

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 years, Sangwan was selected for 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 years but did not get a chance in senior cricket.

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 Agarwal, 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."