Virat Kohli and Naveen-ul-Haq (Twitter)
The altercation between former RCB skipper Virat Kohli and LGS’s Naveen-ul-Haq grabbed headlines following Bangalore’s win over the Lucknow-based outfit and former Pakistani all-rounder Afridi has defended Naveen after the episode
The match between Royal Challengers Bangalore and Lucknow Super Giants offered up some enticing moments in the ongoing season of the Indian Premier League, but the one that grabbed headlines was the altercation between former RCB skipper Virat Kohli and Afghanistan player Naveen-ul-Haq.
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Following the incident, former Pakistani all-rounder Shahid Afridi came to the defence of the 23-year-old bowler stating that he reacts only when provoked unnecessarily.
“Naveen only reacts when someone bugs him unnecessarily. I have seen him bowling often, he gets hammered as well, but he never tried to pick up fights with anyone. I can’t recall if I have ever seen him this much aggressive”, said the former Pakistani maverick.
He also shed light on the innate tendency of pacers to be a bit fiery and pointed out that every team has its share of mavericks on the squad.
“Every team has a certain ratio of aggressive players, we do too, and it’s normal. It happens. Fast bowlers are innately like that”, the 46-year-old added.
BCCI did not take kindly to the clash and slapped Kohli with a Level 2 offence for violating the IPL code of conduct and fined him 100 per cent of his match fee, while Naveen received a fine of 50 per cent of his match fee citing a Level 1 infringement.
The Bengaluru-based side won the toss against LSG and opted to bat. Kholi and captain Faf du Plessis gave the side from Karnataka a decent start as they made a 62-run opening stand before LSG spinner Ravi Bishnoi scalped the prized wicket of Kohli.
Kohli was dismissed for 31 runs off 30 balls, while du Plessis contributed to his team’s cause with a 40 ball 44-run knock.
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As the wickets kept tumbling in quick intervals, nobody other than Dinesh Karthik joined Kohli and du Plessis in making the double-digit score on the day as RCB finished their innings with 126 runs on the board.
Chasing the modest total, LSG came up short as they were bundled out for just 108 runs. Krishnappa Gowtham top scored for the Lucknow unit with 23 runs, while Amit Mishra added 19 and Krunal Pandya chipped in with 14. But, all their work with the bat proved futile as RCB clinched a win by 18 runs.
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