One of former India opener Virender Sehwag’s tongue-in-cheek comments has gone viral on the internet. Sehwag has drawn incredible flak from cricket fans for allegedly stating that he refused to teach David Miller how to play spin during their time together at Punjab Kings, formerly known as Kings XI Punjab.
The comment, now viral on X, states that Sehwag refused to teach Miller how to bat against spin because the South African batter wanted to learn the art of playing spin ahead of South Africa’s upcoming series against India.
“When I was the mentor of Punjab in the IPL, Miller used to ask me how to play off-spin. I deliberately didn’t tell him because after that, South Africa had a series against India,” Sehwag allegedly said.
The post drew heavy criticism from fans, who questioned Virender Sehwag’s integrity as a mentor in a professional team setup.
“Sehwag was dishonest with his role as a mentor. It’s a self-indictment,” one of the users wrote on X.
“It’s one thing to be this unprofessional. Another thing to brag about it. But nothing even surprises me anymore,” another added.
But did Sehwag actually say that, or is this yet another example of a false quote being attributed to a popular former player to draw attention?
A simple verification reveals that the quote attributed to Virender Sehwag is from the 2025 Indian Premier League season. Sehwag, who worked as a Cricbuzz analyst that year, made the comment after Punjab Kings’ match against Royal Challengers Bengaluru on April 20.
In the video, Sehwag was lashing out at overseas players who, according to him, come to India to party during the IPL.
While he did mention that Miller had asked for roughed-up pitches to practice against spin during the IPL, he never said anything about refusing to train him.
Sehwag, on the other hand, was much harsher towards Glenn Maxwell, stating that the Australian all-rounder was an unserious cricketer.
“Maxwell, Livingstone have no hunger anymore. They come to India to spend their holidays. It’s not like they love their teams or that they are passionate about winning games for them. They have not won a trophy yet and they have to get it done this year,” Virender Sehwag had said.
“I have played with a lot of overseas players, out of which maybe one or two of them had the hunger. These other guys only talk and do not show any performance on the field,” he further added.
Virender Sehwag and Glenn Maxwell have history together in the Indian Premier League. During Maxwell’s previous stint at Punjab Kings, he reportedly fell out with Sehwag, who was the senior-most player in the team at the time.
In 2024, Maxwell’s book contained some bombshell allegations against Sehwag, revealing that they no longer see eye to eye. In the book, Maxwell recalled the tumultuous period and claimed that Sehwag’s monopoly over team selection damaged the side.
