Former Bangladesh cricket team batter Imrul Kayes blasted Virender Sehwag for his comments on Shakib Al Hasan over his poor run of form in the T20 World Cup 2024. The legendary India batter was extremely critical of Shakib after he failed to perform in Bangladesh's loss against South Africa. He went on to say that Shakib should have retired from the game after the last World Cup and even asked him to remember that he is a Bangladeshi batter and he should play accordingly. In a recent interview, Kayes expressed his displeasure at the comments and said that as Sehwag did not receive any respect during his cricketing career, he believes that ex-India star does not know how to give respect to others.
"I don't know how a legendary cricketer like him thinks when he says such things. You won't see Sachin-Dravid talking like this because they give that respect to players. Since he didn't get that respect in his career, he doesn't know how to give that respect to other players." Imrul told CricFrenzy.
"Different countries' cricketers evaluate other countries' cricketers differently. Virender Sehwag has made such comments throughout his career. He has also made such comments about our country, saying we don't have an environment suitable for cricket, and that we don't have the ability to take 20 wickets in Test cricket. But we did take those wickets," the former Bangladesh cricketer added.
Imrul also praised Shakib Al Hasan for his achievements and said that he believes "such cricketers should be spoken about with respect".
"Shakib did not become Shakib Al Hasan in one or two days. If you look at his career, you will see many achievements. He has been the number one all-rounder in all three formats for a long time. I think such cricketers should be spoken about with respect," he concluded.