Naveen-ul-Haq might have made headlines for off-field reasons in the 2023 Indian Premier League (IPL) season, but he has proven to be his team's star performer in the do-or-die eliminator clash against the Mumbai Indians (MI) at the MA Chidambaram Stadium.
Naveen struck early for his team by getting the big wicket of MI skipper Rohit Sharma in the fourth over. Later, he returned to bowl in the 11th over and took two wickets after Suryakumar Yadav and Cameron Green put up a quick-fire 66-run partnership. After dismissing SKY on the fourth ball for a knock of 33 in 20 balls, the Afghanistan pacer dismissed Green on the last ball of the over after the Australian star made a 21-ball 41.
Naveen celebrated the wicket of Rohit and Green with a celebration associated with LSG's regular skipper KL Rahul. Naveen covered both his ears with his finger. While Naveen's celebration made for some blockbuster viewing, Indian legend Sunil Gavaskar was not pleased and claimed he did not understand this.
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"He has had issues with the crowd. You should celebrate by chucking your ears. This is the time he has got a wicket. He has got to listen to the applause. When somebody scores a hundred also, don't chuck your ears. Listen to the applause, chuck your hand behind the ears and say 'hello, now can I hear you?'. That's how the celebration should be. That's old me saying this, by the way," said Gavaskar.
Watch Naveen's celebration here -
Watch Naveen's celebration here -
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Naveen has been in the middle of some major controversies in the 2023 IPL after he got into a verbal spat with Virat Kohli when LSG played Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) on May 1 in Lucknow. It was the Kohli-Naveen spat that caused a massive war of words between Indian cricket legends Kohli and Gautam Gambhir.
Since then, a few Instagram stories by the 23-year-old have divided opinions. He has been met by crowds shouting Kohli's name across the nation in the aftermath of the incident.
Talking about the match, Naveen's triple strike put the breaks on MI's innings as they struggled to get going. He also got the wicket of Tilak Verma later in the day.
Talking about the match, Naveen's triple strike put the breaks on MI's innings as they struggled to get going. He also got the wicket of Tilak Verma later in the day.
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