Afghanistan and Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) pacer Naveen Ul Haq has added more fuel to the fire about his fight with Virat Kohli during his team’s IPL 2023 match against Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and said that it was the RCB batter who started everything.
For the unversed, on May 1, RCB posted 126/9 in 20 overs on a sluggish pitch after winning the toss with Faf du Plessis top-scoring with 44 and Virat Kohli making 31 and adding 62 runs for the opening wicket. For LSG, Naveen Ul Haq, picked three wickets while Ravi Bishnoi and Amit Mishra took two wickets apiece.
The pacer, who is the son of a doctor from war-torn Kabul, and who moved to Pakistan as a refugee, saw himself getting some verbal action by Mohammed Siraj first as LSG meandered to an 18-run loss while chasing 126 to win in Ekana Stadium in Lucknow.
Then Virat Kohli entered the fray and hurled some choicest words to Naveen, who retaliated in kind. Kohli, at one point of time, also showed his shoe and dirt from its sole to Naveen while mouthing some words.
After the match, when the two shook hands, Naveen continued to share his thoughts with Kohli, who was in no mood to listen. In the end, when KL Rahul was conversing with Kohli, he invited Naveen to chat with the RCB legend, but the Afghan pacer rebuked the offer.
Virat Kohli Shouldn’t Have Said All Those Things During The Match: Naveen Ul Haq
Naveen, a journeyman T20 cricketer in franchise tournaments around the world, has blamed it on Virat Kohli for triggering the fight.
“He shouldn’t have said all those things during the match and after it. I didn’t started the fight. After the match, when we were shaking hands, Virat Kohli started the fight. When you will look at the fines, you will understand, who started the fight,” he told BBC Pashto in an interview.
The Kohli-Naveen tiff spilled over to the ceremonial end-of-game handshakes between the two teams.
“I just want to say one thing I generally don’t sledge anyone, and even if I do it I would say it to the batters only when I am bowling because I am a bowler. In that match, I didn’t utter a single word. I didn’t sledged anyone.
Players, who were there they know how I dealt with the situation. I never lost my temper, when I was batting or after the match. What I did after the match is can be seen by everyone. I was just shaking hands and then he (Kohli) caught my hand forcefully and I am also human being and I reacted,” he added.
If Someone Is Saying Something To Me I Won’t Back Off: Naveen Ul Haq
He has, in a sense, participated in cricket brawls before. What best describes how he sees himself is something he previously said in reference to a verbal duel he had with Pakistan’s Mohammad Amir and later with Shahid Afridi in 2020.
“If someone is saying something to me I won’t back off. I have had it since I started playing the U-16 for Afghanistan in 2010. I never badmouth anyone but if anyone does that to me I don’t stay silent. I give it back. You can call it wrong but that’s how it is. Be it a young player from the opposition or a senior team member, be it in a club match, playing for Afghanistan, or in the IPL, I play the cricket match with same intensity and I would back off when someone says something to me,” he said.