Naveen-ul-Haq discussed the intense altercation between Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) and Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) during the IPL 2023 season, which involved Virat Kohli and Gautam Gambhir. Naveen found himself in the midst of the conflict after a heated exchange with Kohli, prompting Gambhir to intervene, leading to a separation by players from both sides.
In an interview with Zalmi TV, the LSG bowler revealed that tensions began during a match in Bengaluru, which LSG won in a thrilling finale.
Naveen Ul Haq said – “Virat Kohli bhai told me in the World Cup 2023 Let’s finish this and he said ‘Now the crowd will not bother you’. And after the match we having fun together and smiling and hugged each other”. (Zalmi TV) pic.twitter.com/Kw9nzIsCjg
— CricketMAN2 (@ImTanujSingh) March 3, 2024
“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,” Naveen said in a podcast.
“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,” he added.
Naveen suggested that Kohli took issue with Avesh Khan’s celebrations. Despite not anticipating being on the receiving end of sledging, he held no grudge against Kohli or Siraj.
‘Gambhir Got Carried Away’
Naveen also mentioned Gambhir’s animated response, particularly his shushing gesture in Bengaluru, as Harshal Patel attempted a run-out at the non-striker’s end.
“Gautam Gambhir got carried away [with the shush gesture] because in the previous game, when we needed 1 off 1, one of their bowlers wanted to run the non-striker out while running in to bowl. It was the last wicket. It got heated because the bowler missed taking the bails off.” Naveen said.
“Spirit-wise it wasn’t looking good because it had proven to be such a good game by then. It would have been a shame had it ended in a run out. Because of that, he wanted to silence the crowd. He is a passionate guy, and so is Virat,” Naveen added.
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