Amit Mishra claims Virat Kohli escalated controversial situation with Naveen-ul-Haq

The heated moment between Virat Kohli and Afghanistan bowler Naveen-ul-Haq, and then Virat Kohli vs Gautam Gambhir, appeared as top talking points during the IPL 2023 season. After the match, Virat and Naveen-ul-Haq were engaged in a heated situation. Later, Gautam Gambhir, who was then the mentor of Lucknow Super Giants (LSG), also got involved in the matter.

After a couple of years, the on-field moment is still fresh among fans. After years, former India cricketer Amit Mishra, who was in LSG in the 2023 campaign. In a recent YouTube conversation, Mishra claimed that the controversial moment after the Royal Challengers Bengaluru vs LSG match was because of Virat Kohli. According to the former cricketer, Kohli said something to the Afghan bowler, after which the situation got intense. Mishra believes that there was no need to restart the argument.

"The issue started after the match was over, during the handshake, when Virat Kohli again abused Naveen-ul-Haq, which escalated the situation. Gambhir stepped in, upset that despite winning, there was no need to restart the argument. I asked him to let it go, but things went out of control," Amit Mishra said.

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Amit Mishra blames Virat Kohli for the match after incident

Taking a step further, Mishra criticised Kohli's act regarding the controversial incident. The former spinner compared Kohli's behaviour with Indian cricket legends like Sachin Tendulkar and MS Dhoni and said, "Repeated disrespect isn’t good for the game; senior players like Sachin Tendulkar and MS Dhoni never behaved this way."

Later, during international matches, both Virat Kohli and Naveen-ul-Haq looked in terms, maintaining the spirit of the game. Naveen met Kohli in Delhi during Afghanistan's ODI World Cup match against India in October 2023, and the duo surprised the fans by hugging out their differences.