Virat-Kohli,-Gautam-Gambhir-and-Imam-ul-Haq. (Photo Source: X/Twitter)
The IPL 2023 got into headlines for all the wrong reasons during Match 43 of the season as Royal Challengers Bangalore star Virat Kohli had an altercation with Lucknow Super Giants bowler Naveen ul Haq. The moment became the most talked about incident of the edition as it even led to Kohli having another heated chat with Gautam Gambhir during the same game.
Recently, Pakistan opener Imam-ul-Haq recalled the incident and revealed that Agha Salman apparently messaged Kohli on Instagram to calm him down after it. Notably, the BCCI came down heavily on the players involved in the verbal duel and imposed heavy fines on them.
Also Read: Naveen-ul-Haq reveals infamous ‘sweet mangoes’ story from IPL 2023
“During the IPL, I remember Virat Kohli had a fight with Afghanistan bowler Naveen ul Haq. It was an intense fight that continued even after the game and Gautam Gambhir also joined it. It went viral and Virat was extremely angry. Following the incident, Salman Agha messaged him on his Instagram ‘Kohli bachche easy ho ja. Kya ho gaya? (Kohli kid please calm down what happened),” Imam-ul-Haq said on the Honest Hour podcast.
salman agha what were you even thinking😭😭 pic.twitter.com/DNBCiPBw1U
— mishal| abdul hannan stan❗❗ (@Mishalriiaz) December 1, 2023
In the aftermath of the incident, Kohli and Gambhir were fined 100% of their match fees after they were found guilty of a Level 2 offence while Naveen-ul-Haq lost 50% of his match fees for his Level 1 offence.
Kohli and Naveen sorted out their differences in ODI World Cup 2023
In the recently concluded ODI World Cup 2023, Kohli and Naveen had another face-off. Notably, the crowd were eagerly waiting for the duo to clash during India’s fixture against Afghanistan in New Delhi. The Afghanistan seamer even got a hostile welcome to the crease during the match as the entire crowd began chanting ‘Kohli! Kohli!’ when walked out to bat in the first innings.
During the second innings, the duo had another face-off as Naveen bowled to Kohli. However, both cricketers put their past differences behind them and hugged each other during the match to bring an end to their heated rivalry. Following the incident, Naveen revealed that Kohli asked him to end the fight and he (Naveen) even praised the Indian batting star for his achievements on the pitch.
Also Read: ‘We laughed about it’ – Naveen-ul-Haq reveals chat with Virat Kohli during ODI World Cup 2023 game