A lot of the criticism that has been meted out in relation to the spat between Virat Kohli and Gautam Gambhir has been pointed towards Afghanistan's pacer Naveen-ul-Haq for his role in the fight. According to many, it was with Naveen who began the furore when he was reportedly shown the shoe before Amit Mishra and the on-field umpire stepped in between to diffuse tensions.
And now, a tweet from a former legend has gone viral.
During the inaugural edition of the Lanka Premier League (LPL), Naveen had a war of words with former Pakistan pacer Mohammad Amir after a match between the Kandy Tuskers and Galle Gladiators. After the match, he received some advice from Pakistan legend Shahid Afridi, who revealed in a tweet what he told the youngster.
"My advice to the young player was simple, play the game and don't indulge in abusive talk. I have friends in the Afghanistan team and we have very cordial relations. Respect for teammates and opponents are the basic spirit of the game."
Replying to Afridi's tweet, Naveen wrote, "Always ready to take advice and give respect, Cricket is a gentleman's game but if someone says you all are under our feet and will stay their then he is not only talking about me but also talking about my people."
After the game, Kohli and Naveen-ul-Haq exchanged an extremely cold handshake which involved the pulling of hands and a slight shove by the Afghanistan bowler on Kohli. The two players indulged in an intense heated exchange during the handshake before Glenn Maxwell separated them.
Naveen-ul-Haq shared a cryptic message on Instagram on May 2 (Tuesday). The message, which seemed like a conscious shot at former Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) captain Virat Kohli, read "You get what you deserve that's how it should and that's how it goes." Naveen's Instagram message came a few hours after Kohli had shared a similar cryptic post on his Instagram status.
Virat Kohli was fined 100% of his match fees by the Indian Premier League while the Afghanistan pacer was also docked 50% of the match fees.
After the game, LSG opening batter Kyle Mayers proceeded to speak with Kohli. The two spoke for five seconds before Gambhir arrived on the scene and pulled Mayers away from Kohli. In the background, Kohli and Naveen-ul-Haq exchanged a few words once again before an angry Gambhir walked towards the former RCB skipper despite KL Rahul and other players trying to diffuse the tension.
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