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Former Team India spinner Piyush Chawla took a cheeky dig at his former India National Cricket Team teammate Virender Sehwag. Sehwag, who was known for his fearless batting approach, repeatedly mentioned that he did not consider off-spinners as bowlers, as he used to pick them with ease.
In a cricket discussion on Star Sports' Cheeky Singles, where Piyush Chawla and Ravichandran Ashwin, two former India spinners, presented as guests, one of the topics for discussion was Virender Sehwag's comments on off-spinners. On multiple occasions, the former opener stated, 'I did not consider off-spinners as bowlers'.
Piyush Chawla mentioned that the off-spinners are the leading wicket-takers
On this note, Piyush Chawla highlighted that Muttiah Muralitharan, the bowler with the most wickets in international cricket, was an off-spinner. The Sri Lanka cricket legend claimed a total of 1,347 international wickets across all formats, holding the record for the most wickets taken in international cricket.
Chawla also pointed out that among the top wicket-takers for the India National Cricket Team, there are two former off spinners— Ravichandran Ashwin and Harbhajan Singh. Taking a step further, Piyush Chawla, in a funny way, mentioned that even Sehwag's son, Vedant, also bowls off-spin. The younger son of Virender Sehwag is actually an off-spin bowler.
"Brother, the world's most wicket-taking bowler is an off-spinner: Muralitharan. For India, there are two off-spinners in the top three. If he doesn't consider off-spinners as bowlers, then his son also doesn't bowl off-spin, " Piyush Chawla said in the Star Sports episode when one of the hosts asked, "This is a very famous thing that we all know that Virender Sehwag doesn't consider off-spinners as bowlers. I want to ask the leg spinner here. What do you have to say about this?"
Piyush Chawla cooked Virender Sehwag, who doesn't even consider off spinners bowlers.😂 pic.twitter.com/6zZn45bh2N
— OldMonkofCricket (@OldMonkOfCric) July 24, 2026
Ravichandran Ashwin reckoned Virender Sehwag as a good off-spinner
Following Chawla's comments, Ravichandran Ashwin further mentioned that Sehwag himself was an off-spinner and was a good off-spinner.
Sehwag had modest success with his spin bowling skills across formats for the Indian cricket team. The former cricketer, who is mostly remembered for his aggressive batting, got 40 wickets in Tests in 91 innings, and 96 wickets in 146 ODI innings. In the Whites, he even claimed a 4-wicket figure once, and a 4-fer once in ODIs.
Piyush Chawla explains why Virender Sehwag was successful against spinners
Piyush Chawla expressed that because of Sehwag's aggressive batting style, bowlers felt extra pressure against him. As there were no places to hide, and Sehwag picked the bowlers easily, not only the off-spinners; the Delhi-born actually did not consider any of the spinners as bowlers.
In support of Chawla's comments, Ravichandran Ashwin took a prime Sunil Narine as an example and said that when most of the batters were used to being under their shells, Sehwag stepped in and delivered a double century in Indore against the West Indies, which then had Sunil Narine as a mystery spinner.
