‘He Never Misbehaved With Me After That’: Imrul Kayes Recalls How Tamim Iqbal Silenced Virat Kohli
Kayes revealed that before playing international cricket, he was familiar to Kohli as the two stars spent a lot of time together while attending a camp in Australia in 2007. During the tenure, the Kayes and Kohli became good friends. Hence, he was surprised when Kohli sledged him in 2011.
Virat Kohli is arguably the best batsman to have ever graced the game. Along with his batting prowess, however, the Indian skipper is also known for his aggressive and fierce nature on the cricket field. There are numerous stories of Kohli getting involved in a verbal battle with the opposition players and recently, Bangladesh batsman Imrul Kayes also revealed one. According to the southpaw, Kohli was constantly sledging him during a match in 2011. Instead of retaliating, he went to his opening partner Tamim Iqbal and told him about this. However, Tamim didn’t hold back and ‘silenced’ Kohli with his comments. Virat Kohli Is the Best Batsman Across Formats, Says Former Pakistan Cricketer Mohammad Yousuf.
Kayes revealed that before playing international cricket, he was familiar to Kohli as the two stars spent a lot of time together while attending a camp in Australia in 2007. During the tenure, the Kayes and Kohli became good friends. Hence, he was surprised when Kohli sledged him in 2011.
“We have had a good relationship ever since. I played against him for the first time in 2011 after joining the national team. Kohli was constantly sledging me. I was surprised. He was still sledging after having such a good relationship,” said Kayes during a live Instagram session with cricket-based website Cricfrenzy.
When Kayes told Tamim about the incidence, he gave it back to Kohli which made the latter go silent. “I thought he was still sledging after a good month! But I did not answer myself. I told Tamim that he was sledging. Then Tamim sledged him again. Tamim can do these well, he is very aggressive on the field. Kohli has not sledged me since then.”
Kayes even revealed that after that episode the current Indian skipper never sledged him. Even in some matches, all the Bangladesh players were sledged but not him. “When the game was played in Fatullah (2016), he sledged almost everyone. But he didn’t say a word to me. This time when we went to play a Test series in India, almost everyone was insulted. But he didn’t say a word to me.” Kayes said as quoted by bd.crictime.
However, Kayes also went onto heap praises on Kohli’s batting abilities and called him a ‘legend.’ “He’s at his level, a legendary player. We don’t have to do such calculations with him. One thing is for sure, he still remembers us after becoming such a great player. He speaks on his own.” he added.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on May 14, 2020 07:00 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).