Former India opener Gautam Gambhir on Saturday (September 23) extended his heartfelt birthday wishes to Afghanistan pacer Naveen-ul-Haq, who was involved in a heated altercation with Virat Kohli during the IPL 2023 season.
Taking to Instagram, Gambhir shared a picture with Naveen, who turned 24, and captioned it as: “Happy Birthday @naveen_ul_haq! There are very few like you. Never change!”
Gambhir’s post took the internet by storm as fans started posting hilarious memes in the comments section.
Notably, Gambhir played the role of a mentor for IPL team Lucknow Super Giants in the last couple of seasons whereas Naveen played for the franchise as a fast bowler this year.
During the LSG versus RCB clash at the Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow on May 1, Naveen and Kohli engaged in a war of words. The on-field aggression spilled over to the post-match handshakes as they had another verbal spat.
After the game, LSG mentor Gambhir was seen approaching Kohli aggressively with his players and the two had an animated chat. Before the matter could have gone out of hand, both of them were separated by the players and support staff members.
Things did look ugly in the middle and all three were fined for breaching the IPL’s code of conduct. While Kohli and Gambhir were fined 100% of their match fees, Naveen lost half of it.
The altercation created quite a stir in the cricket fraternity and it continues to draw attention even after four months.
Earlier, Gautam Gambhir opened up about the ugly spat with Kohli while speaking to News18 India, saying that he stood up for Naveen as the LSG pacer had done nothing wrong.
“I will say only this, that I will endorse what I did for the person who was right in that instance. If I feel that Naveen-ul-Haq did nothing wrong, then it is my duty to stand with him. And I will do that till my last breath, even it is for Naveen-ul-Haq or anyone. If I feel you are right, I will stand with you. This is what I have been taught and will continue to do. This is how I have been living my life. A lot of people said a lot of things, that I am supporting Naveen-ul-haq and not our own player. It was not that this player is ours and that player is not. If my team’s player is wrong, I would not have sided with him," Gambhir stated.
