‘Virat Kohli probably didn’t like it’- Naveen-ul-Haq finally opens up on his feud with Virat Kohli in IPL 2023
Naveen-ul-Haq finally opens up on feud with Virat Kohli in IPL 2024
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Mar 4, 2024 4:55 pm
Naveen-ul-Haq and Virat Kohli (Source – X)
The spat between Naveen-ul-Haq and Virat Kohli was one of the most controversial incidents of the last edition of the IPL. The controversy started between Virat Kohli and Naveen-ul-Haq during the match between LSG and RCB but went on to another when it involved other players including Gautam Gambhir who earlier had an iconic clash with Virat during the 2013 edition of the IPL.
The bitterness of the incident between Virat and Naveen-ul-Haq finally ended during the ODI World Cup in late 2023 when Virat finally signalled the Delhi crowd to not boo the young Afghani pacer during the World Cup match. Naveen-hl-Haq is currently playing in the Pakistan Super League for the Peshawar Zalmi and during a podcast for the Zalmi TV, Naveen-ul-Haq opened up on the match against RCB where the incident unfolded.
Naveen discloses Virat Kohli’s real reason for displeasure
The Afghan medium pacer opened up on the real reason behind the spat and said that Virat was not happy by Avesh Khan throwing away his helmet after LSG won their previous encounter against RCB in Bengaluru. Therefore, in their next match at Lucknow, their players were sledging especially Virat Kohli and Mohammed Siraj.
When Naveen went into bat and No.9 or 10, Virat started sledging him and Naveen admitted that being a fierce competitor he is he wasn’t able to resist giving it back. However, the verbal spat continued even after the match and LSG’s former mentor Gautam Gambhir joined too and took on Virat after the match.
Talking to Zalmi TV, Naveen said, “We went to play our away match in Bengaluru. That’s where it all started. We won that game – it was very close – so one of our players [Avesh Khan] threw the helmet in excitement after scoring the winning runs. Virat Kohli probably didn’t like it. Next, their team came to Lucknow. I think I went out to bat at No. 9 or 10 and we had pretty much lost the game by then.”
He further added, “So, I didn’t expect that I would be sledged. But when it happened, like I said, when someone starts, I can’t hold back. After the game, things continued during the handshake too. The sledging came from two guys – Kohli and Mohammed Siraj.”
