Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) batter Virat Kohli and Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) pacer Naveen-ul-Haq were involved in a heated altercation after their IPL 2023 clash at the Ekana Cricket Stadium on Monday (May 1).

The duo engaged in a war of words during the 17th over of LSG’s chase. The on-field aggression then spilled over to the post-match handshakes as Kohli and Naveen had another verbal spat.

Things did look ugly in the middle and both the cricketers were reprimanded by the match referee. While Kohli was fined 100% of his match fees for breaching the IPL’s Code of Conduct, Naveen copped a 50 percent fine.

Two days after the incident, former Pakistan all-rounder Shahid Afridi has come to the defence of Naveen-ul-Haq, stating that the Afghanistan pacer reacts only when provoked unnecessarily.

“Naveen only reacts when someone bugs him unnecessarily. I have seen him bowling often, he gets hammered as well, but he never tried to pick up fights with anyone. I can’t recall if I have ever seen him this much aggressive," Afridi said in an interaction with Samaa TV.

Incidentally, Naveen-ul-Haq had earlier engaged in a verbal duel with Shahid Afridi during a Lanka Premier League match in 2020.

“Every team has a certain ratio of aggressive players, we do too, and it’s normal. It happens. Fast bowlers are innately like that," Afridi added.

After the RCB-LSG encounter, Kohli and Lucknow team mentor Gautam Gambhir too got involved in an animated chat and some players and support staff members from both sides had to intervene to restore sanity.

Gambhir was also fined 100 percent of his match fees under Article 2.21 of the IPL Code of Conduct.