IPL 2023: Who Is Naveen-ul-haq, Pacer At Centre Of Virat Kohli Vs Gautam Gambhir Fight In Lucknow

Lucknow Super Giants pacer Naveen-ul-haq from Afghanistan was docked 50 per cent of his match fees after IPL 2023 match against Royal Challengers Bangalore.

Photo: BCCI/IPL

Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) pacer Naveen-ul-haq was at the centre of a massive fight between Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) batter Virat Kohli and LSG mentor Gautam Gambhir after the IPL 2023 match at the Ekana Stadium in Lucknow on Monday night. Naveen was fined 50 per cent of his match fees due to his verbal exchanges with Kohli during the match and after it as well while Kohli and Gambhir were both penalised with 100 per cent of their match fees.

During the 17th over of the LSG chase, there was an argument between Kohli and Naveen-ul-haq after Mohammed Siraj in anger had clipped the bails at the end of his over with the Afghanistan bowler attempting to sneak a run. Former India leg-spinner Amit Mishra and the on-field umpire had to step in to calm the situation.

Naveen ul haq show this attitude to King kohli ? Why?
.#ViratKohli #RCBVSLSG #ViratKohli gambhir Amit Mishra Naveen pic.twitter.com/sXJee63KZh — MSDIAN____(07) (@Msdian_070) May 1, 2023

Once the game got over, Kohli attempted to shake hands with Naveen-ul-haq but the LSG bowler aggressively pulled his hand away. Kohli was seen answering back to him aggressively and RCB all-rounder Glenn Maxwell had to step in and separate the duo.

A little while later, KL Rahul requested Naveen-ul-haq to shake Kohli hand but the LSG bowler once again aggressively snubbed his skipper’s request. All hell broke lose a little while later as Kohli and LSG mentor Gautam Gambhir then got into a brawl.

All about Afghanistan pacer Naveen-ul-haq

Naveen-ul-haq is a 22-year-old right-arm-pacer from Afghanistan, who made his international debut during an ODI match against Bangladesh in 2016 and his T20I debut in 2018. He quickly established as the leader of Afghanistan pace attack in both white-ball teams and has taken 48 wickets from 34 international matches so far. He has been a regular performer in various T20 franchise leagues for the last few years and has been making a name in world cricket with some impressive outings lately.

Naveen-ul-haq also posted a cryptic message on his Instagram Story, possibly in reply Kohli’s post earlier in the day. “You get what you deserved that’s how it should be and that’s how it goes," read the message on Naveen’s story.

Naveen Ul Haq's latest Instagram story. pic.twitter.com/YWJBK6Hm9R — Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) May 2, 2023

In IPL 2023, LSG signed the Afghan pacer for his base price of Rs 50 lakh. He missed the first few games with Mark Wood preferred over him. Naveen made his IPL debut on April 19 during a game against Rajasthan Royals but was not able to pick up any wickets. In 136 T20 matches till date, Naveen has picked up 167 wickets at an average of 22.88.