Former Indian cricketer Virender Sehwag came down heavily on Bangladesh all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan and said the underperforming player should be axed from the T20 format after the World Cup.
Shakib has been bleak with bat and bowl in the World Cup so far. In yesterday’s encounter with South Africa, he only bowled an over conceding 6 runs and got out scoring 3. Earlier in the first match against Sri Lanka, wicket-less Shakib conceded 30 runs from 3 overs and scored 8 off 14 balls.
In a talk show on Cricbuzz, the explosive Indian batter said Shakib should have taken retirement earlier and he should be dropped from the T20 format after the World Cup.
Shakib has been languishing in T20 matches for a long time. He scored his last fifty in the format 19 innings ago, in 2022.
Shakib has been languishing in T20 matches for a long time. He scored his last fifty in the format 19 innings ago, in 2022. Not only in this World Cup, Shakib was lackluster with bat in the previous two T20 World Cups too, scoring 131 in six matches in 2021 and only 44 in five matches in the last T20 World Cup.
Sehwag said he thought during the last World Cup that Shakib should no longer get a chance in the T20 format.
“Back in the last World Cup, I thought he should not be picked for the T20 format. Time for retirement came a long time ago. You are such a senior player, you were captain of this team, so you should be ashamed of your stat. You should announce yourself that enough is enough, I’m retiring from this format,” Sehwag said in his reaction.
Sehwag also criticized the way Shakib got out attempting a pull shot off an Anrich Nortje delivery.
“If you are picked in the World Cup squad for your experience, then show the worth of it. Take some in the wicket for a while. You are not Adam Gilchrist or Mathew Hayden. You are a Bangladeshi player…Hook-pulls are not your strength. You play according to your strength, at least stay in the middle”
Sehwag thinks the time has come for the selectors to take tough decisions and choose young players instead as Shakib’s experience is no more paying off.
