A late Emile Heskey goal denied Chelsea the points at Stamford Bridge, and dealt the Blues a blow in the Premier League title race.
Heskey sent home a 92nd minute equaliser after Michael Essien had given Chelsea the lead early in the second half.
The point leaves us five points behind leaders Manchester United, with four games to play, a scenario many would not have predicted before kick-off.
The big news before the game was the return of Petr Cech, sporting two masks, and the late withdrawal of Frank Lampard. That meant Juliano Belletti replaced the midfielder, with Michael Essien rejoining Ballack and Mikel in the middle.
Florent Malouda made his first league start since February 2 as Joe Cole was rested, while Wayne Bridge and Alex replaced Ashley Cole and Ricardo Carvalho in defence.
Wigan arrived at the Bridge nearing safety in 15th place, five points above the drop zone, but had lost two of their last three in the league. We on the other hand had won six of our last seven and were unbeaten in Premier League football since December.
That particular run never looked like coming to an end, and after four minutes Nicolas Anelka should have opened the scoring for Chelsea when Salomon Kalou crossed for the waiting Frenchman, six yards out.
His jump was well-timed, but with Chris Kirkland stationary on his line, the forward carelessly headed wide.
Six minutes later Kirkland did venture from his goal line, racing out of his box to deny Anelka.
The first shot on target came after almost 20 minutes, Wigan's Antonio Valencia firing powerfully at Cech's goal. The 'keeper diverted it around the post for the visitors' second corner.
This was in the midst of a solid spell for Steve Bruce's side, and we were struggling to break out of our own half. When we did break clear, it took a smart header from Josip Skoko to deny Michael Ballack the simplest of finishes at the far post.
Shortly after it was Kirkland who had to be on his mettle, as this time Anelka got his header on target, sending a looping effort towards goal. The Wigan stopper backpedalled and managed to tip the ball over his crossbar.
There was another nearly moment for Chelsea on 34 minutes, but again Skoko was on hand to clear the ball over his own bar, after Kalou had gone up to head from a Belletti corner.
At half-time, Joe Cole replaced Malouda, with the fans chanting his name as he was introduced. Within 26 seconds, the winger had almost scored, but saw his goalbound shot blocked by a Wigan defender.
On 50 minutes Cole combined with Anelka and Belletti, but when the Brazilian pulled back low into the Wigan box, there were only white shirts waiting to clear.
Three minutes later Belletti crossed again, this time from a corner, and John Terry fired hard against the crossbar. Moments later Kirkland had to stop Kalou from point-blank range.
A Chelsea goal looked likely, and sure enough it arrived within a minute, courtesy of Michael Essien, his fifth of the season.
Anelka held the ball up well, and laid it into the Ghanaian's path. Essien did the rest, calmly curling the ball between two defenders and beyond the grasp of the goalkeeper.
Wigan reacted by bringing on creative midfielder Jason Koumas in place of veteran holding man Skoko.
It was still Chelsea that looked like scoring though, with Cole in inspired form, testing Kirkland's grip with a bullet left-footed effort. His next contribution was to play in Essien, but on this occasion the midfielder's touch evaded him.
As the minutes ticked away, Chelsea remained the better side with the greater share of possession, but few chances came of it.
Ballack sent a free-kick narrowly over on 75 minutes, while Cole fired high when perhaps he should have crossed.
The last throw of the dice for Wigan was the substitution of Ryan Taylor, replaced by forward Marlon King, who joined Antoine Sibierski and Emile Heskey in a three-pronged attack, though Heskey played in advance of the others.
The ball was still spending more time in the Wigan area though, and Anelka could have guaranteed three points with five minutes left, but dragged his shot wide.
We were almost made to pay when Sibierski found space in our box, but his half-volley was palmed away by Cech, who had spent the previous hour as a spectator.
Normal service was resumed as the game entered stoppage time, when Kirkland saved smartly from Essien to give his side a chance.
Then, disaster struck Chelsea. On 91 minutes, Koumas crossed into the channel between goalkeeper and defence, and up popped Heskey to volley home. It was his first meaningful contribution to the game.
It was also the last major action, as a precious two points were dropped in the Premier League title race.
By Andy Jones
Chelsea (4-3-3): Cech, Belletti, Alex, Terry (c), Bridge; Ballack, Mikel (Shevchenko 90+2), Essien; Kalou, Anelka, Malouda (J Cole ht).
Goals Essien 54
Wigan (4-4-2): Kirkland; Melchiot (c), Boyce, Scharner, Kilbane; Valencia, Palacios, Skoko (Koumas 55), Taylor (King 78); Bent (Sibierski 63), Heskey.
Goals Heskey 90+1
Booked Koumas 67, Valencia 87
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