‘Kohli Didn’t Like Avesh Khan’s Celebration’ – Naveen-ul-Haq Reveals Details of LSG-RCB Spat Ahead of IPL 2024
Naveen-ul-Haq opened up on the heated LSG-RCB spat involving Virat Kohli and Gautam Gambhir
Afghanistan pacer, Naveen-ul-Haq opened up on the heated LSG-RCB spat during the IPL 2023 season, which also involved Virat Kohli and Gautam Gambhir.
Things got heated when Naveen and Kohli had a face-off, which eventually led to Gautam Gambhir, the former mentor of Lucknow Super Giants, to jump in, after which the matter escalated.
In an interview with Zalmi TV, the LSG fast bowler revealed that the tension began during the Bengaluru match, which ended with a nail-biting victory for the Lucknow team.
Naveen sensed that Kohli wasn’t pleased with Avesh Khan‘s celebrations. The Afghan bowler expressed surprise at being sledged and bore no grudge against Kohli and Siraj.
Here’s what Naveen-ul-Haq said in the podcast with Zalmi TV:
“We went to play our away match in Bengaluru. That’s where it all started. We won that game – it was very close – so one of our players [Avesh Khan] threw the helmet in excitement after scoring the winning runs.”
“Virat Kohli probably didn’t like it. Next, their team came to Lucknow. I think I went out to bat at No. 9 or 10 and we had pretty much lost the game by then.”
The right-arm pacer also opened up on being sledged by the likes of Siraj and Kohli in Lucknow. The 24-year-old added:
“So, I didn’t expect that I would be sledged. But when it happened, like I said, when someone starts, I can’t hold back. After the game, things continued during the handshake too. The sledging came from two guys – Kohli and Mohammed Siraj.”
Meanwhile, Naveen and Kohli reconciled during the 2023 World Cup campaign while Gambhir has parted ways with LSG and is now the new mentor for KKR ahead of IPL 2024.
