“If You Need Support…”: Sanjiv Goenka On Infamous Virat Kohli-Naveen-ul-Haq IPL Spat

On-field spat between Virat Kohli and Naveen-ul-Haq© X (Twitter)




The on-field fight between Virat Kohli and Naveen-ul-Haq became one of the major controversies during Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023. During the match between Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Lucknow Super Giants, Kohli got involved in a heated argument with Naveen with the fight taking an ugly turn. Then mentor Gautam Gambhir also got involved and got into another spat with Kohli as teammates tried to separate them. During a recent interaction, LSG owner Sanjiv Goenka opened up about the entire incident and revealed the conversation he had with the Afghanistan fast bowler.

“That situation took place during a game. So I will not comment on whether it was right or wrong. It is easy to be judgmental but it is not for us to judge. I just told Naveen that if you need any support or you are feeling insecure, we are there to support you,” Goenka said on the TRS Podcast.

“But it is not about showing that you have the spirit to fight. If I was in your position, I would have said – You said this to me. Now I will bowl in such a manner that I will take all of your team’s wickets,” he added.

Following the incident, Naveen posted an image of mangoes on his social media account along with the visual of Kohli getting dismissed for 1 during a match against Mumbai Indians.

However, the duo resolved their differences during the ODI World Cup 2023 match between India and Afghanistan as they hugged each other on the field.

“He is a good kid and large-hearted as well. So, he went and made up with Virat. Virat is of course Virat. These situations happen. Such a thing happened between Mohammed Siraj and Travis Head. These things happen and as an owner, you just need to quieten them down,” he explained.

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