Afridi’s old tweet on spat with Naveen, centre of Kohli vs Gambhir, goes viral | Cricket

Afghanistan fast bowler Naveen-ul-Haq was the centre of the infamous Virat Kohli-Gautam Gambhir on-field face-off at the Ekana Stadium late on Monday night. Moments after RCB’s incredible 18-run win against LSG, Gambhir and Kohli had an intense verbal exchange, but the ugly fight and the uncomfortable scene at the venue were an extension of the spat the former RCB skipper had with Naveen during the match. And while world cricket remained abuzz over the Kohli-Naveen and Kohli-Gambhir incident during the RCB-LSG game, an old tweet of Shahidi Afridi after his spat with Naveen went viral.

This wasn’t the first time Naveen has been involved in a cricket brawl. Back in 2020, he had engaged in a war of words with Mohammad Amir and later with Afridi during the inaugural edition of the Lanka Premier League (LPL). Naveen was playing for Kandy Tuskers in that edition of the tournament. He was spotted hurling some abuses at Amir during the match with turned into an ugly scene before other players including his teammate and former India player Munaf Patel. Later in when the players had queued up to shake hands, Afridi had some words to say to Naveen and the latter retaliated as well.

After the match Afridi took to Twitter to write: “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.”

And later, Naveen replied saying: “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.”

In an interview with The Cricketer a year later, here is how Naveen described the incident: “It was in the moment. Amir came out to bat and they were losing the match. My first delivery he swung so hard but missed the ball. I smiled and asked him how big a six he wanted to hit – I made a joke and he took it seriously. I am competitive from the first ball to the last ball but after the match I don’t have anything for anybody in my heart. He is a good player, a good cricketer.”