‘Ye aur kar bhi kya sakta hai’ – Fans troll Naveen-ul-Haq as he claims he enjoyed ‘Kohli-Kohli’ chants during IPL 2023 Eliminator

Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) suffered a humiliating loss against Mumbai Indians (MI) by 81 runs in the Eliminator of IPL 2023 at MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai. With this, LSG have also been knocked out of the tournament, while MI will lock horns with Gujarat Titans (GT) in Qualifier 2 to book a spot in the final clash against Chennai Super Kings (CSK).

During the match, LSG pacer Naveen-ul-Haq was the continuous target of the crowd at Chepauk at kept taunting on relentlessly with the ‘Kohli – Kohli’ chants. However, this wasn’t the first time in this tournament that Naveen has been teased by the name of Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) batter Virat Kohli.

It all started during the LSG vs RCB clash on May 1st where Kohli and Naveen were engaged in a heated banter during the match. After that, LSG mentor, Gautam Gambhir also came in support of his player as he was involved in a heated conversation with Kohli after the match. Since then, fans have been continuously trolling Gambhir and Naveen with the name of Kohli.

I don’t concentrate on the outside noise: Naveen

However, the Afghan cricketer after the match against MI said that he actually likes it when the fans keep chanting Kohli’s name. He revealed that it encourages him to perform well for his team and also emphasised the need for professional athletes to handle these type of situations and don’t let this affect their game.

“I enjoy it (chanting). I like that everybody in the ground is chanting his name, or any other player’s name. It gives me passion to play well for my team,” Naveen said in the post-match press conference.

“I don’t concentrate on the outside noise. I just focus on my own cricket. It’s not like if the crowd is chanting or anyone is saying something… it doesn’t affect me. As professional sportsmen you have to take it in your stride. One day you will not do your best for the team and these fans are going to give it to you. On another day, you’ll do a special thing for your team and the same people are going to chant your name,” he further added.