Virender Sehwag feels Amit Mishra has fudged his age

Once a destructive opening batsman and now a witty Hindi commentator, Virender Sehwag has carried his flamboyance of the cricket field to the commentary box. These days, he is known for his humorous analysis of the proceedings most of which are light-hearted.

But he might have sparked a controversy when he hilariously alleged Amit Mishra of age fudging. He felt that the leg-spinner’s actual age might differ from the official age on the records and that he is older than the one presented on paper.

During the third ODI between India and New Zealand, Sehwag, VVS Laxman and Aakash Chopra were holding the microphones in the 44th over of the Kiwi batting. Laxman was praising Mishra about how he was maintaining his fitness at the age of 33.

Sehwag then jumped in and said that the official age of Mishra is 33 but he might be 2-3 years older than that. He even went on to make a comment on himself as well that he might have done the same in his younger days to hide his real age.

Here’s how the conversation among the three unfolded:

Laxman: He (Amit Mishra) is working very hard on his fitness and now that he is 33, he will have to work even harder.

Sehwag: Officially 33, on paper he is 33, only Mishra would know his real age.

Laxman: You could also know Viru, he would have played a lot with you, so how old is Mishra unofficially?

Sehwag: Look, assume a difference of minimum 2 years, Mishra must be at least 35 years old (Laxman and Chopra burst into laughter). Anyways, everyone gets their ages reduced for Under-19 cricket.

Chopra: Everyone! No everyone does not do that

Sehwag: You must have done that too.

Chopra: No, I did not do that.

Sehwag: Even I might have done that.

Laxman: Might have? You would know if you did that.

Sehwag: Look VVS, I can’t say that on-air. I am saying that everyone might have reduced that. That’s why Mishra on paper is 33, but off paper, he could be 35, 36, 37 or even 38.

Also read – Suresh Raina’s return to the side made difficult by Kedar Jadhav

Although the intentions of Viru were only to mock Mishra as he is a close friend of the leg-spinner. But age fudging has been a serious issue in cricket as a lot of young cricketers fudge their ages to illegally play at certain levels of cricket. A lot of cricketers have expressed their concerns over the issue and termed it as a serious crime.

You can watch the video here