One of the biggest controversies that happened in the sixteenth edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) was the one that saw Virat Kohli, Naveen-ul-Haq and Gautam Gambhir in the middle of a heated spat. This was during the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) match against Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) at the Ekana International Stadium in Lucknow. While RCB’s Kohli and LSG’s Naveen had a bit of an exchange even during the match, once the match was over and Kohli and LSG team mentor Gautam Gambhir had even shook hands, things got heated up once again between Kohli and Naveen after which Gambhir intervened.

After that throughout the IPL, Naveen shared a series of posts on social media which all seemed to be a dig directed at Kohli. And now after the tournament has ended, Naveen has had his say on that ugly spat. As per him, it was the former RCB skipper who had started the fight.

“He shouldn’t have said all those things during the match and after it. I didn’t start the fight. After the match, when we were shaking hands, Virat Kohli started the fight,” he told BBC Pashto.

“When you will look at the fines, you will understand, who started the fight,” he added while referring to the fact that Kohli was fined 100 per cent of his match fees but the Afghanistan pacer was only docked 50 per cent of his payment.

“I just want to say one thing I generally don’t sledge anyone, and even if I do it I would say it to the batters only when I am bowling because I am a bowler. In that match, I didn’t utter a single word. I didn’t sledge anyone. Players, who were there they know how I dealt with the situation,” he said.

“I never lost my temper, when I was batting or after the match. What I did after the match is can be seen by everyone. I was just shaking hands and then he (Kohli) caught my hand forcefully and I am also human being and I reacted,” he added.