Naveen-ul-Haq of Afghanistan playing for Kandy Tuskers was involved in a verbal spat with Mohammad Amir, and Shahid Afridi joined later in the ongoing Lanka Premier League 2020.
Kandy Tuskers defeated the Shahid Afridi-led Galle Gladiators side by 25 runs on matchday 6 of the LPL 2020, which saw tempers being exchanged between Mohammad Amir and Naveen-ul-Haq after which Galle Gladiator’s skipper Shahid Afridi joined in later.
Naveen-ul-Haq Involved In A Verbal Spat Says ‘Give Respect Take Respect’
Batting first Kandy Tuskers scored 196/5, and Galle Gladiators managed 171/7. Naveen-ul-Haq gave away 33 runs and picked a solitary wicket for winning team. Galle Gladiators have lost all 4 matches while Kandy Tuskers have won their first match in 5 matches played.
It all started with Mohammad Amir and Naveen-ul-Haq having a go at each other as soon as the match between Galle Gladiators and Kandy Tuskers ended. The latter clearly wasn’t happy, and when Shahid Afridi, the Galle Gladiators skipper, came out for a handshake with the opposition team, he had something to say to the youngster.
Naveen-ul-Haq, who is a part of LPL franchise Kandy Tuskers, took to Twitter and replied to Afridi’s tweet on Wednesday, “Always ready to take advice and give respect, Cricket is a gentleman’s game but if someone says you all are under our feet and will stay their then he is not only talking about me but also talking abt my ppl. #give #respect #take #respect.”
The ex-Pakistani skipper was leading the Galle Gladiators in the LPL 2020 before he departed home for ‘personal reasons’ with rumours surfacing that his daughter is being hospitalized.
Shahid Afridi Advises Youngster Naveen-ul-Haq Not To Indulge In Abusive Talk
At the time of the customary handshakes between players from both the dugouts, Galle Gladiators’ captain Shahid Afridi decided to approach him to cool the pacer down besides advising Naveen-ul-Haq on how to conduct himself on the cricket strip, especially with the seniors.
Later, Afridi wrote from his official Twitter handle, “My advise to the young player was simple, play the game and don’t indulge in abusive talk. I have friends in Afghanistan team and we have very cordial relations. Respect for teammates and opponents is the basic spirit of the game”
Recently, Amir too joined the bandwagon and revealed what was actually being told by Afridi to young Naveen. Amir told in an interview as per PakPassion.net, “He [Naveen-ul-Haq] is a youngster and will learn soon as this happens when you are new to cricket; Even when I started off, I had this habit of getting into trouble with every other batsman. This is cricket and things happen in the heat of the moment – its nothing personal to be honest”
“If you look at me nowadays, I am very friendly with everyone; I don’t sledge batsmen; One should focus on their bowling and all aggression should be left for the time when you take a wicket; Expressing aggression without a reason is of no use as a bowler, it simply wastes your energy which is best used in getting the batsman out. That’s what I said, it would have been better if he had been putting his energy to get me out,” he opined.
Amir added, “At the end of the innings, I was a little riled up also and as you know the heart rate is already. Shahid Bhai was trying to make him understand that these aren’t the type of ethics we should have, that he should not behave like that with his seniors, that he should be a gentleman; This is cricket and you get hit for 4s and 6s but you can also get wickets.”
As for Galle Gladiators, they have their task cut-out in the five-team tournament. They are yet to win a game after four encounters and occupy the bottom spot in the points table. Besides, they have lost the services of Shahid Afridi for a brief period, who has returned back to Pakistan for a ‘personal emergency’.
In this regard, he tweeted, “Unfortunately I have a personal emergency to attend back home. I will return to join back my team at LPL immediately after the situation is handled. All the best.”
But the real scene in LPL 2020 came to light when Galle Gladiators’ skipper Shahid Afridi came out for a handshake with the opposition. He was visibly angry and irritated with Naveen-ul-Haq as the 40-year-old Shahid Afridi spoke to him and seemed to advise him to cool down. However, the Afghanistan youngster didn’t look happy even then.