Picture Credit: Twitter
Afghanistan’s pacer Naveen-ul-Haq, who is currently a part of the Lucknow Super Giants in the Indian Premier League 2023, grabbed spotlight after being engaged in an altercation with the Royal Challengers Bangalore’s star batter Virat Kohli during the LSG vs RCB clash on Monday. The verbal rift that spilled over during the game got extended even after the match, and in no time, it became the most talked-about incident from the match. However, this isn’t the first time the 23-year-old player has engaged in a rift with a senior player.
In the inaugural edition of the Lanka Premier League in 2020, Naveen-ul-Haq who was a part of the Kandy Tuskers got into a verbal rift with Mohammad Amir and Shahid Afridi. During a match against Amir’s team, Naveen was seen hurling abuses, which led to an ugly scene, where his teammates, including Munaf Patel tried to intervene. During the post-match handshake also, things got heated up between Naveen-ul-Haq and Shahid Afridi.
Watch the video here:
In another incident, the Afghanistan player got engaged in a verbal spat with the Sri Lanka player Thisara Perera during a match in the Lanka Premier League 2021. In a video that has been doing rounds on social media, Naveen could be seen obstructing Perera at the non-striker’s end, when he was trying to take another run. This didn’t go well with Perera, and things got heated up between both the players.
Watch the video here:
This behaviour of Naveen-ul-Haq could be seen in the Big Bash League (BBL) 2022-2023, where Hobart Hurricanes batter D’Arcy Short got in an altercation with the Afghan pacer. Naveen was a part of the Sydney Sixers in that tournament, and his actions grabbed him limelight in that tournament as well.
Notably, the Kohli vs Naveen spat began during the 17th over of the LSG’s innings when Kohli was engaged in an animated conversation with Amit Mishra before getting engaged in a heated conversation with Naveen-ul-Haq.
Things got out of hand when Gautam Gambhir intervened to save his player. Meanwhile, Kohli and Gambhir have been charged with 100 per cent of their match fee, whereas Naveen has been charged with 50 percent of his match fee for breaching the IPL Code of Conduct.
