Piyush Chawla has seen it all – the pre-T20 era, the advent of 360-degree batting, the shift from tossing-the-ball to firing-them-in. He’s won them all too – an ODI World Cup, a T20 World Cup, an IPL with the winning hit. Longevity is perhaps the toughest metric for a sportsperson. To reinvent, or even survive 18 years in professional cricket is very rare. And Piyush has thrived through them. As he heads into 2024 on the back of topping the wickets chart for Mumbai Indians, he indulges in an exclusive chat with mumbaiindians.com, where he goes down memory lane, revisits the 15-year-old Piyush who first burst onto the scene, and the six-year-old reason behind the wind beneath his wings, or rather, the wind beneath those fingers. Excerpts ..

1000 wickets across formats, an 18-year professional career. You’ve bowled and bamboozled three generations of cricketers. How special is it? Does it also make you feel old?

In fact it only makes me feel younger. It’s a long and slow process. Taking 1000 wickets has taken me 20 long years. But every time I step onto the field, I still feel the same nerves and butterflies in the stomach. No matter who the bowler is, everyone gets hit. But leg-spinners give you options for wickets. If you look at India’s top wicket-takers in T20s, they are mostly spinners. Whether it is Yuzvendra (Chahal), or Ashwin, or Mishraji (Amit) or me. Obviously, it makes me feel really nice.

There’s an entire playlist of Piyush Chawla wickets where you dismiss the opposition’s most-prized batter that has gone viral on social media. Let’s talk about the first one that threw the spotlight on you – Sachin Tendulkar b Chawla, 2006

Sachin paaji’s wicket in the Challenger Trophy came in what was only my second List A match. I had never played anything before that, neither Ranji nor any First Class cricket. I came straight from under-19 cricket, so as a 15-year-old kid, just looking at those players, whether it was Sachin paaji, or Rahul bhai, or Yuvi bhai, was a big deal in itself.

So when I came to bowl, we had field restrictions for 15 overs in those days. It was the pre-powerplay era. Our seamers got hit, and so our captain (Dinesh Mongia) asked me if I would bowl in the field restrictions. I said yes, I would.  And he was like, ‘Sachin paaji khel rahe hai’ (Sachin Tendulkar is batting). All I thought was, even if paaji hits me, what difference is it even going to make. Shane Warne, Muttiah Muralitharan, Glenn Mcgrath, you name the bowler, Sachin paaji would hit them all. Here I was, a 15-year-old.

So I took the ball. I don’t know why I went round the wicket. Generally, when I start from my run-up, I usually think about what I’m going to bowl. I was planning to bowl a leg-spinner, because from round the wicket, what else could you do. Things have changed now, but back then, cricket was very traditional and conventional. Right, so I ran in with a leg-break grip, and pata nahi (I don’t know) what came into my mind, I bowled a wrong ‘un. It just pitched there, paaji tried to cut, and got bowled.

I was on top of the world. Everyone started talking about Piyush Chawla. It’s been nearly 20 years and people are still talking about it. Even a few days ago, I met a guy at the airport, and he reminded me about Sachin’s wicket. He said he was sitting right behind my bowling arm when I got that wicket. It’s still very fresh. There must be something very special about that ball that people are still talking about it even after so many years.

Ricky Ponting b Chawla, 2008. You were a few years into your international career…

The ball I bowled to Ricky Ponting, sach me kuch aur hi tha (was honestly something). It was the Board President XI vs Australia game where I picked up five wickets. So Ponting was at his peak with the way he was batting in that era, that too on that Hyderabad pitch where there is hardly any spin. The best part was, I deceived him in the air with my pace and dip. It just went really quickly off the pitch. Beating a batsman like Ricky Ponting on a flat deck still gives me goosebumps. Sometimes when I go through my old videos, I still watch that delivery. It gives me a lot of pleasure.

Setting up Kevin Pietersen and having him out-thought twice in the 2007 ODI series… 

KP (Pietersen) said in an interview after he hit me on my debut that ‘whether it is this 17-year-old kid, or Shane Warne, I bat the same way’. I remembered that when we went to play the Natwest Series in England. At Bristol, what I bowled to him wasn’t a normal seam up delivery. It was more like a leg-spinner I pushed through. Even as a bowler you don’t know whether it will spin or whether it will skid on when you push it through. He played all around it and got bowled through the gap between bat and pad. It was really pleasing.

In the next game, he thought he would play me aggressively like he did in the Test matches. So he stepped out, but I pushed it quicker, and he got beaten again. Mahi bhai (MS Dhoni) was there behind the stumps to effect the stumping. These are wickets when you watch them again and again, you feel really refreshed. There was a Herschelle Gibbs wicket as well in Ireland, where the leg-break went straight through and he got bowled between bat and pad.

Another trademark delivery that you developed in T20s was the quicker one that you’d bowl at nearly 120kph. The dismissal of Shane Watson in IPL 2013 was truly the stuff of gold. How did that come about?

I had never ever bowled or practiced that quicker delivery in the nets. It was the first time I tried such a delivery. I was playing for Kings XI Punjab and Adam Gilchrist was the ‘keeper. Shane Watson used to play that short arm jab shot a lot. One ball prior to that, I bowled him a length ball and he pulled it for four. And I was like, ‘Isko kya hi daale’ (what do I even bowl to him?)! He is one of the most dangerous batters. Thoda sa peeche (a little behind) and he would pull it for six, and thoda sa aage (a little in front) and he would hit you down the ground.

So I went to Gilchrist and told him, ‘I am just going to bowl one seam up delivery to him. You be ready’. It pitched in line with the stumps, and Watson instinctively went to pull. But he wasn’t expecting the ball to skid on and got cleaned up. It was at 117kph. That’s how it started.

In another match, Mike Hussey was batting really well in Chennai. Gurkeerat Mann was keeping in that match. I wasn’t sure if he’d pick and collect my quick delivery, and so I went up to him in the strategic timeout and told him, ‘See, I know Hussey will step out as soon as he sees me and look to go over cover. I will fire it in quick, you just be ready’. This is what experience is all about. Exactly what I predicted happened. Hussey stepped out as soon as he came on strike, and he wasn’t expecting the ball to come at 115kph. He got beaten completely. I never practice this in the nets. It just comes instinctively. I don’t even plan it. I run in with a normal grip, and at the very last second, decide to bowl it. By God’s grace I have very strong shoulders.

When you look back at the 15-year-old Piyush today, how do you look back at him, his training methods, his diet? How much has he changed? 

I have always been a foodie. I love to eat everything. For training, I used to run a lot. Gym and all have come into fashion only these days. Our coach used to tell us to warm up with a 40-minute run. After running so much, and then bowling as well for the entire day, I would burn everything. I still like training outdoors over gymming. The most important thing is bowling fitness. From what I have experienced over the years, yes, fitness is important, but match fitness is an entirely different ball game. There are a lot of players who look fit, but they keep having issues with their bowling workload. I have developed my workload not by going to the gym, but by bowling 15-20 overs.

I still bowl four hours in the nets. Even in the Mumbai Indians camp, I would bowl for long. I enjoy bowling. My training has hardly changed in these 17 years. The only difference is that I am 35 now because of which I have to eat a little carefully. But that’s all. Everything else remains the same.

IPL 2023 was a great season for you with the Mumbai Indians, finishing at the top of the wickets chart for the team with 22 wickets. What was the secret sauce?

I was making a comeback. I just wanted to play cricket for myself, not for anyone else or to prove anything to anyone. Over the years, I have always been a part of the IPL from the beginning. I must have done something, that’s why I am here. When I came back after a one year gap, there was that hunger, that tadap. I felt I hadn’t done anything wrong and didn’t deserve to be left out. I just wanted to play for myself and my son.

The banter you and your son, Advik, share came across as one of the most heartwarming bonds for the MI Paltan on MI TV during the season. He’s extremely popular around the players. How has having him around changed you as a cricketer?

When I wasn’t picked by any team in 2022, there were a lot of thoughts going around in my mind. My son was watching the IPL, and he asked me, ‘Papa, you don’t play the IPL?’ Because in 2021 I played just one game for MI and in 2022 I was doing commentary. I immediately told him, ‘I play, and don’t worry, I will play this year’. That thing stuck in my mind. Khelna hai aur kuch karna hai (I have to play and do well). He follows the game very closely and is very much into cricket. He comes and discusses with me about how I got a particular player out. These are proper cricket discussions, mind you. He even knows the technicalities of the rules. He keeps asking me questions on how I set a batsman up, how I bowled a certain ball to get him out. We analyse very seriously.

But as a bowler you get hit as well, especially playing at the Wankhede. But for him, ‘Papa should bowl four overs, take four wickets and give away just ten runs’. Sometimes if I get hit for a six, I tell him, I was just inviting the batter to go after me. But he keeps telling me to only bowl good balls and keep getting wickets (chuckles).

After the IPL, he came and saw me bowling, and he started bowling leg-spin. I am not saying this because he is my son, but he has got a very good wrist position. Hopefully he will continue with it. The most important thing for me, is that at the age of just six, he is bowling with a proper action, rotating his arms and everything. Even when he bowls fast, he bowls with a proper action. He is just too much into cricket at the moment.