Afghanistan fast-bowler Naveen-ul-Haq has shared the backstory behind his Instagram photo of “sweet mangoes,” which went viral during the Indian Premier League’s 2023 season after his dispute with Indian batting maestro Virat Kohli during the game between Lucknow Super Giants and Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB).
During the chase, Naveen batting for Lucknow, got into a furious argument with Kohli. The fast bowler from Afghanistan reportedly confronted Kohli for his suggestion to the team’s bowler to bowl several bouncers to Naveen. Both the players engaged in a heated exchange, showing no signs of backing down.
The young right-arm pacer shared a picture of himself enjoying mangoes from a hotel room while observing the highly-anticipated match between Mumbai Indians and Royal Challengers Bangalore at Wankhede Stadium, which urged the fans to think that the post was linked to Virat Kohli’s dismissal against the five-time champions.
Days before the IPL 2024 mini-auction, Naveen stated in a video shared by Lucknow Super Giants that the post about the sweet mangoes wasn’t meant to be directed at Kohli and was interpreted incorrectly.
“I had told Dhaval bhai (LSG team logistics) that I wanted to eat mangoes. And he got mangoes that night itself. When we went to Goa, he brought mangoes. So I was sitting in front of the screen and eating mangoes. There was no picture or anything (of Kohli), it was a Mumbai Indians player on the screen”.
“So I wrote ‘sweet mangoes’ and everyone took it in a different way. So even if I didn’t say anything, I just left it. I thought it was mango season, so people’s shops should also do well,” Naveen-ul-Haq said.
After Mohammed Siraj and the Afghanistan pacer squared off in the middle, Virat Kohli had to go at Naveen. Following the completion of the game, Gautam Gambhir, the mentor of the LSG, and Kohli exchanged some sharp words. Following the contentious match, the IPL governing body punished all three of them for their on-field behaviour.
Days after Virat Kohli and Naveen got into a verbal spat on the pitch during RCB’s victory over Lucknow Super Giants in Lucknow.
Naveen posted a few cryptic Instagram stories and the conversation surrounding it began as the young Afghan pacer started to face backlash for his activity on and off the field by fans around the globe, which was later resolved by them during the recently concluded ODI World Cup 2023.
