'FAKE ACCOUNT': Naveen-ul-Haq breaks silence on 'I'm sorry Virat Kohli sir' viral tweet

Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) pacer Naveen-ul-Haq was involved in a heated verbal spat with Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) superstar Virat Kohli when the two teams played against each other earlier in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 season.

SportsTak

• Sun • 28 May 2023

Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) pacer Naveen-ul-Haq was involved in a heated verbal spat with Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) superstar Virat Kohli when the two teams played against each other earlier in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 season. It became a huge controversy as heavy fines were imposed on both cricketers, including LSG mentor Gautam Gambhir. From that incident, the Afghanistan pacer was constantly taking shots at Kohli by posting cryptic Instagram stories. For his antics, Naveen was targetted with relentless chants of 'Kohli, Kohli' across venues before his and LSG's campaign came to an end.

Even in the LSG's Eliminator game against Mumbai Indians (MI) on May 24 (Wednesday) at MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai, Naveen was heckled by the crowd. The right-arm pacer responded to the fans why putting two fingers in both his ears whenever he picked a wicket.

After that game, a tweet from an account named, '@naveenulhaq66' posted "I'm sorry Virat Kohli sir". The tweet went viral as fans assumed that Naveen has apologised to Kohli.

Later, Naveen shared the screenshot of that tweet on his Instagram story and deemed it as 'FAKE'.

"Form (from) this fake account; whoever has gotten messages, please report it, thanks," Naveen wrote on the screenshot he shared on Instagram.

After LSG and Naveen's Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 campaign came to an end, the right-arm pacer opened up about dealing with 'Kohli, Kohli' chants. Naveen stated that the heckling doesn't deter him from his goals and only fuels him to do well for his team.

"I enjoy it (chanting)," Naveen said in the post-match press conference.

"I like that everybody on the ground is chanting his name or any other player's name. It gives me passion to play well for my team.

"I don't concentrate on the outside noise. I just focus on my own cricket. It's not like if the crowd is chanting or anyone is saying something... it doesn't affect me. As professional sportsmen, you have to take it in your stride. One day you will not do your best for the team and these fans are going to give it to you. On another day, you'll do a special thing for your team and the same people are going to chant your name," Naveen added.