Naveen-ul-Haq made headlines with his on-field verbal spat with none other than Virat Kohli during an IPL 2023 league stage match against Royal Challengers Bangalore a few weeks ago. However, he has somehow managed to be into the limelight and his social media posts or quirky celebrations after picking up wickets or taking catches also made headlines as well.
On Wednesday, in the IPL 2023 Eliminator between LSG and MI, Naveen posted a good show with the ball, claiming the wickets of Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav, Cameron Green, and Tilak Varma to end up with figures of 4/38 in his four overs as well. However, that wasn’t enough as Mumbai Indians pacer Akash Madhwal showcased an even better performance with the ball, scalping 5 wickets for just 5 runs to lead MI to Qualifier 2 with a whopping 81-run win at Chepauk as well.
However, apart from his bowling, Naveen-ul-Haq kept the crowd entertained with his finger-to-the-ears celebrations but it was his “sweet mangoes” Instagram story that made headlines after LSG’s defeat in the Eliminator. Notably, Mumbai Indians cricketers Vishnu Vinod, Sandeep Warrier, and Kimar Kartikeya took to social media and took an indirect dig at him after MI’s win.
The sweet mangoes! pic.twitter.com/BM0VCHULXV
— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) May 24, 2023
However, the photo was deleted later but not before it went viral on social media. It was evident that Warrier, Kartikeya, and Vinod were taking a jibe at Naveen-ul-Haq, who had posted a photograph of mangoes in the backdrop of MI’s match against RCB as well.
After the win, Krunal Pandya, LSG Skipper said: “We were in a good position at one stage, but everything started (going wrong) when I played that shot, we should have played better cricket. That shot (his wicket) was not on, I completely take the blame for that. The ball was coming nicely on to the bat, we just had to bat better. We didn’t play good cricket after that strategic break. Quinton de Kock is a quality batter, but Mayers has a better record here, so we went ahead (in the playing XI) with him. Their batters bat really well against fast bowlers, so I thought of starting with spin against them.”
