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The Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) vs Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) clash has gone down as one of the most controversial clashes in the history of Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023. While RCB won the low-scoring encounter, there were ugly scenes as former RCB skipper Virat Kohli and LSG players, mentor Gautam Gambhir were involved in a heated exchange. A month and a half after the incident, Naveen has accused Kohli of starting the fight during customary handshake.
“He shouldn’t have said all those things during the match and after it. I didn’t start the fight. After the match, when we were shaking hands, Virat Kohli started the fight,” he told BBC Pashto.
“When you will look at the fines, you will understand, who started the fight,” he added.
Kohli and Gambhir were fined 100 per cent of their match fee whereas Naveen was fined 50 per cent by Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). Naveen who had a decent IPL season said that he does not sledge anyone until and unless he is forced to.
“I just want to say one thing I generally don’t sledge anyone, and even if I do it I would say it to the batters only when I am bowling because I am a bowler. In that match, I didn’t utter a single word. I didn’t sledge anyone. Players, who were there they know how I dealt with the situation.”
“I never lost my temper, when I was batting or after the match. What I did after the match is can be seen by everyone. I was just shaking hands and then he (Kohli) caught my hand forcefully and I am also human being and I reacted,” the 23-year-old further added.
However, it was not the first time Naveen was involved in a scuffle. In Pakistan Super League (PSL), he had a heated exchange with Mohammad Amir as well.
In the latter half of IPL 2023, Naveen was teased by the former Indian skipper chanting ‘Kohli-Kohli’. He also posted a few cryptic Instagram stories that did not go down well with Kohli’s fans. In the absence of an injured KL Rahul, Krunal Pandya led LSG to playoffs where they were knocked out by Mumbai Indians (MI). He took 13 wickets from 8 games including 4/38 in the eliminator.
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