Former Pakistani captain Shahid Afridi has reacted to the recent spat in the IPL 2023 between Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) batter Virat Kohli and Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) pacer Naveen Ul Haq which happened in Lucknow a couple of days back.
Naveen Ul Haq and Virat Kohli were seen having a verbal during the game’s 17th over as LSG were faltering in their chase of 127 runs set by RCB. Mohammed Siraj and Naveen had a small altercation during that over, which got Virat Kohli involved as well.
Amit Mishra tried to pacify Kohli and got a splash of the former RCB skipper’s ire as well. Then when the match ended, Naveen and Kohli were shaking hands, but Naveen didn’t let go of Kohli’s hand and had some words to say to him.
Glenn Maxwell then separated the two sparring cricketers and later report suggested that Naveen Ul Haq told one of his LSG teammates that he had come to India to play in the IPL and not getting abused by other players.
I Can’t Recall If I Have Ever Seen Him This Much Aggressive: Shahid Afridi On Naveen Ul Haq
Former Pakistani cricketer Shahid Afridi, while talking on a local news channel, offered his perspective on the Naveen and Virat altercation, stating that Naveen only reacts when provoked unnecessarily.
“Naveen only reacts when someone bugs him unnecessarily. I have seen him bowling often, he gets hammered as well, but he never tried to pick up fights with anyone. I can’t recall if I have ever seen him this much aggressive”, Afridi said as per Cricket Pakistan.
“Every team has a certain ratio of aggressive players, we do too, and it’s normal. It happens. Fast bowlers are innately like that”, he further added.
Following the Naveen-ul-Haq and Virat Kohli altercation, the BCCI took strict action against both players for violating the IPL Code of Conduct. Kohli received Level 2 offenses and was fined 100% of their match fees, while Naveen-ul-Haq received a Level 1 offense and lost 50% of his match fees.