‘Play According To Your Standards, You Are Not Hayden or Gilchrist’: Virender Sehwag Slams Shakib Al Hasan’s Playing Style

June 12, 2024 0 730

Former India batter Virender Sehwag criticised Shakib Al Hasan for his poor performance in the 2024 T20 World Cup, urging him to play according to his standards.

Former India batter Virender Sehwag has heavily criticised Bangladesh’s veteran all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan following his poor performance against South Africa in the 2024 T20 World Cup. Shakib managed to score a mere three runs during the run chase, leading to Bangladesh’s narrow four-run defeat on June 10th.

Virender Sehwag opined that, as a senior player, Shakib should have played a bigger role in the run chase. Instead, the left-handed batter was dismissed off the fourth ball of his inning in the eighth over while trying to pull Anrich Nortje’s short delivery.

“If he was included in the squad for experience, then we were not able to see it. At least spend some time at this wicket. It is not like you are Hayden or Gilchrist who can play a pull shot off a short ball; you are just a player from Bangladesh. Play according to your standards. When you are not able to play hook or pull, just play the strokes that you know,” Sehwag said on Cricbuzz.

“I felt that Shakib’s time in T20 cricket was up a long time ago, during the last T20 World Cup. He has been captain for such a long time; he is such a senior player, and after that, if your numbers are like these, he should be ashamed of it, right? Even he should realise that he is not cut out for T20s anymore and announce his retirement. At the end of the day, you know your level, and when you are not able to contribute, then what is the point of playing? So, I don’t think he should play or be played,” Sehwag concluded.

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Former India wicketkeeper Parthiv Patel added during the discussion on Cricbuzz, “There are expectations on Shakib, and that is not wrong, because he has been playing since the first World Cup. Especially when the team is in trouble, the young players on the team will obviously look up to him. Shakib said after losing the series to the USA that it was a wake-up call. If you need wake-up calls even after playing for 15 years, then imagine how much he has snoozed,” remarked Patel.