How Imrul Kayes follows Sachin Tendulkar while batting
Imrul Kayes, the left-handed top-order batsman of Bangladesh, struck a century in the series opener against Zimbabwe in Mirpur on Sunday (21 October). He has been receiving plaudits after scoring a watchful 144, which is the second biggest individual one-day knock by a Bangladeshi, equalling Mushfiqur Rahim's 144 in the last Asia Cup against Sri Lanka.
His stunning innings helped Bangladesh to win the series opener over Zimbabwe in spite of losing six wickets with just 139 runs on the board. Imrul played the rescue act along with young all-rounder Mohammad Saifuddin, who hit his maiden one-day half-century, that gave Bangladesh a challenging total of 271, and eventually, Bangladesh won the match.
However, the left-handed batsman follows Indian great Sachin Tendulkar as he uses a sticker of the national flag on his helmet. The great Sachin Tendulkar used to do it during his playing days. Imrul started this practice after the historic performance of the Tigers in the World Cup, 2015.
"I felt very encouraged to see cricketers wearing the national flag on the top of the board’s monogram. I started to play with it after the 2015 World Cup. Initially, I had plastic stickers, which could not remain firm on that. Then I started wearing cloth sticker. Mushfiq and some other cricketers also started playing with that," Imrul Kayes said to New Age after hitting his career-best one-day knock.
"It might not be a big thing, but it helps to get inspired. Usually, the name of our country remains printed on our jerseys, besides this, the national flag can be on the helmet as well. It gives a different feeling," The southpaw further added regarding his feelings of wearing the national flag in the helmet.
This trend of showing love for the country started by Sachin Tendulkar, and several Indian players likes of Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, MS Dhoni and Virat Kohli love to carry the national flag on their helmets. It undoubtedly reflects their feelings about the country.