According to Naveen’s LSG teammates, the on-field abuse from Virat Kohli riled him up, which is why he confronted the former India captain after the game.
Naveen-ul-Haq on Virat Kohli
Naveen-ul-Haq, the son of a doctor from war-torn Kabul who fled to Pakistan as a refugee, finds himself at the center of an on-field brawl between Virat Kohli and Gautam Gambhir in the RCB-LSG match on Monday night.
Toward the end of the game, there was a spat between Kohli and Naveen-ul-Haq, which angered the latter. He later revealed his true feelings about the incident and Kohli to one of his teammates in the locker room.
According to Indian Express, Naveen later told one of his LSG teammates: “I have come here to play in the IPL, not to take abuse from anyone.”
It all started when Kohli said something to Naveen before showing him his shoe. The Afghanistan star felt angry as he charged at the former RCB captain. The umpire and the other LSG batter in the middle, Amit Mishra, stepped in immediately. Kohli continued the heated conversation, this time looking at Mishra and signaling to Naveen to remain calm.
Following the match, the two exchanged an aggressive handshake before Naveen said a few words. Kohli ignored it and moved on, but Naveen persisted. Kohli then came to a halt and retaliated verbally. Glenn Maxwell intervened and separated the two before things became too heated.
Cryptic Instagram post
The 23-year-old on Tuesday morning also shared a cryptic Instagram post, which is being interpreted as a dig at Virat Kohli.
“You get what you deserve. That’s how it should be and that’s how it goes,” Naveen wrote on his Instagram story.
Instagram story of Virat Kohli. pic.twitter.com/nQv3yKwEXF
— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) May 2, 2023
The BCCI later took harsh action against Naveen and Kohli. While the former was fined 50% of his match fees, the latter had to lose his entire match fees.
Gambhir was also fined 100% of his match fees for his ugly spat with Kohli during handshakes moments after the Naveen incident. Words were exchanged and fingers were raised in a heated exchange at Ekana Stadium before teammates intervened to separate the two.
