Can Naveen shut out the noise when he faces Kohli in the World Cup?
Titans bowlers face big test against MI batters
Afghan fast bowler Naveen-ul-haq hit the headlines again in the Indian Premier League. Was it for the right reasons? Well, first things first — Naveen was the only Lucknow Super Giants player that made the right moves in a match that saw his team slump to an embarrassing 81-run defeat to the Mumbai Indians.
Naveen took four wickets in the match, including the big ones of Rohit Sharma, Cameron Green and Suryakumar Yadav, to help Lucknow restrict Mumbai to 182 for eight.
But his bowling heroics were not enough as Lucknow was bowled out for a paltry 101 after Mumbai's Akash Madhwal (5/5) bowled the spell of his life. The demoralising defeat ended Lucknow's campaign in the tournament.
But fans didn't waste the opportunity to troll Naveen who had an ugly spat with Virat Kohli during a league match between Lucknow and the Royal Challengers Bangalore.
Even Gautam Gambhir, the Lucknow Super Giants team mentor, was involved in a heated postmatch argument with Kohli following the RCB star's on-field spat with Naveen.
Since then, the rookie bowler had been trolling Kohli on social media with cryptic messages
The 23-year-old teased Kohli after the former Indian captain missed out on a big score in RCB'S match against Mumbai.
He shared a picture of mangoes on Instagram after Kohli's dismissal for just one run against Mumbai with the caption: 'sweet mangoes'.
Kohli then hit a brilliant hundred in the last league game against the Sunrisers Hyderabad to keep RCB'S playoff hopes alive.
But despite Kohli's secondstraight hundred in the last league game against the Gujarat Titans, RCB suffered a six-wicket defeat and bowed out of the tournament.
As soon as that match ended, Naveen took a sly dig again at Kohli on Instagram with a funny video.
The fans, though, have hit back at the Afghan star after his team, Lucknow, was knocked out of the competition on Wednesday night.
Twitteritis have slammed Naveen for still holding a grudge against the former Indian captain.
"Karma will always hit you back, Naveen Ul haq and Gautam Gambhir," one fan tweeted.
"Virat Kohli's last IPL match score: 101. LSG total: 101. Have those sweet mangoes."
During the match against Mumbai on Wednesday, fans at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai even chanted Kohli's name every time Naveen was placed in the deep boundary as a fielder.
The fans also chanted Kohli's name when Naveen came on to bowl.
But that didn't seem to affect the bowler as he delivered an outstanding spell against the Mumbai Indians.
"I enjoy it. I like everyone on the ground chanting his (Virat Kohli) name or any other player's name. It gives me the passion to play well for my team," he said.
After he bamboozled three of the best Mumbai Indians batters, Naveen cupped his ears to taunt the the crowd that turned against him.
But with Afghanistan scheduled to face host India in the 50 overs World Cup later this year, Naveen can expect a hostile reception from the Indian crowd when he bowls against Kohli.
It will be interesting to see how this rising Afghan pacer handles the pressure and bowls to one of the best batsmen the game has ever seen.
Inspired by Akash Madhwal's breathtaking bowling performance against Lucknow Super Giants in the Eliminator, five-time IPL champion Mumbai Indians will look for another strong performance when it takes on defending champion Gujarat Titans in Qualifier 2 at Ahmedabad on Friday.
Mumbai Indians, riding on magical figures of five for five from Madhwal at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on Wednesday night, knocked out LSG from the race to the final with an 81-run win.
The massive MI victory was a warning to the rivals that it could lift its game even in the absence of star pacers Jasprit Bumrah and Jofra Archer.
Having finished last in the previous edition, Rohit Sharma's men have a chance now to fight for their sixth IPL title.
The likes of Cameron Green, Suryakumar Yadav and Tim David have responded well to the challenges and now form the backbone of the batting department with the young Nehal Wadhera too making a huge impact.
It will be a stern test for the Titans' bowling attack, led by Mohammed Shami (26 wickets in 15 matches), to get the better of MI'S batting, which has improved drastically at the business end of the tournament.
Gujarat Titans, outclassed and outgunned in Qualifier 1 by Mahendra Singh Dhoni's Chennai Super Kings, will be hoping to bounce back in style. It will be imperative for the defending champion that its batting unit clicks since Shubman Gill and Vijay Shankar have done bulk of the scoring in the last few games. —