India’s Virat Kohli and Naveen-ul-Haq of Afghanistan were involved in an on-field spat in 2023 which led to a fine for both players and another former player in an IPL game.
In this piece we look at what happened between Kohli and Naveen-ul-Haq and what’s the latest update about the situation.
When did the Kohli-Naveen-ul-Haq feud happen?
This happened in an IPL 2023 match between the Lucknow Super Giants and Royal Challengers Bangalore at the BRSABV Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow. The match was played on May 1 and was the 43rd game of that year’s competition.
Who were involved in this fight?
Other than Kohli and Naveen-ul-Haq, Lucknow’s global mentor Gautam Gambhir also got himself involved. Other than these three, there were others who tried to break up the fight.
How did Kohli-Naveen spat happen?
News reports suggest Virat Kohli and Naveen-ul-Haq were involved in a verbal duel during the match with both players attempting to give each other some grief. The issue reached its pinnacle when the two teams lined up to shake hands as is the customary ritual in cricket these days.
According to Naveen-ul-Haq, Kohli grabbed his hand in anger and the two got involved in another spat as a result of that. There were words exchanged there too and Lucknow mentor Gambhir, who has had a prior history of spats with Kohli, also joined in and the whole situation ran the risk of running into a melee.
Fortunately calmer heads prevailed and the offending players were called away in time.
What followed was a 100% match fee for Kohli and Gambhir and a 50% match fee of Naveen-ul-Haq as a result of the on-field argument.
This is what Naveen said in an interview with BBC Pashto:
“When you will look at the fines you will understand who started the fight. I never badmouth anyone, but if someone says something to me, I won’t stay silent. I will give it back.”
Naveen would later put up an Instagram post of a story of a lion, tiger and donkey which ended with
“The worst waste of time is arguing with the fool and fanatic who does not care about truth or reality, but only the victory of his beliefs and illusions. There are people who no matter how much evidence we present to them, are not in the capacity to understand, and others are blinded by ego, hatred, and resentment, and all they want is to be right even if they are not.”
While Kohli was nowhere mentioned here, there were Kohli fans who regarded this a post against the former RCB and India captain.
View this post on Instagram
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What happened next?
The next time Kohli and Naveen met on a cricket field was at the 2023 World Cup in which the two faced off in the ninth match of the tournament between India and Afghanistan in Delhi.
Afghanistan managed to get to 272 for eight in their 50 overs with Naveen-ul-Haq scoring an unbeaten nine after coming in at the number 10 spot.
In response, India strolled to their target in a mere 35 overs for the loss of two wickets with Kohli remaining not-out on 55.
During the course of his innings, however, the Delhi crowd began to boo Naveen-ul-Haq to which Kohli objected and asked the crowd to calm down a little.
Virat Kohli asking the crowd not to troll Naveen.
– A great human being, Kohli. pic.twitter.com/YFQE1oK2hd
— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) October 11, 2023
This was followed by the two players in question, Kohli and Naveen shaking hands and hugging as well, bringing about cheers from the crowd.
Later, in an interview with the PTI, Naveen acknowledged the two players had buried the hatchet and moved on. He said:
“Crowd will chant for their home cricketers and that is what they did. It is his (Kohli’s) home ground. He is a nice guy, a good player and we shook hands. It (what happened) was always in the ground, it was nothing outside the ground. People make it big. They need that stuff for their followers. He said (today) ‘we are done with that and I said yes we are done with that. We shook hands and hugged.”
Afghanistan would go on to play England in their very next game at the same ground and this time around, Naveen was cheered on by the Delhi crowd, getting a lot of support from them every time he came on to bowl.
Delhi is cheering for Naveen. Yes, read that again! 👏👏👏pic.twitter.com/e8wyN4zxz7
— Lucknow Super Giants (@LucknowIPL) October 15, 2023
Also Read:
- Why Have Gambhir & Kohli Frequently Clashed in Cricket?
- What was the Feud Between Harbhajan & Rayudu?
Who is Naveen-ul-Haq?
Naveen-ul-Haq’s full-name is Naveen-ul-Haq Murid and he is has played international cricket for Afghanistan since 2016 when he was just 17.
Other than playing for the Lucknow Super Giants in the IPL, Naveen-ul-Haq has also featured in the Caribbean Premier League and Lanka Premier League and then the Leicestershire Foxes in T20 Blast.
Captain of the Afghanistan under-19 team at the 2016 World Cup, he would go on to announce his retirement from ODI cricket at the end of the 2023 World Cup blaming the lack of balance between the bat and the ball as his reason behind it.
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