The Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 campaign produced some fiery clashes on the field, with Royal Challengers Bengaluru superstar Virat Kohli taking on Lucknow Super Giants’ Naveen-ul-Haq. The clash between the two spiralled on beyond the match, with LSG coach Gautam Gambhir also throwing himself in the altercation. Gambhir and Kohli had a heated argument that prompted forced their teammates to intervene. Now, Lucknow spinner Amit Mishra has revealed what exactly was the reason behind such an explosive clash that season.

In a chat during a podcast on YouTube, LSG’s veteran spinner Amit Mishra revealed that the story started a few matches before in Bengaluru when Lucknow mentor Gautam Gambhir had done the ‘finger on mouth’ gesture towards Bengaluru fans.

“It all started in Bengaluru where we (LSG) won the game and Gambhir expressed his aggression. The public was going mad so Gautam gestured them to keep quiet. Probably Virat Kohli didn’t like that. We thought the matter ended with the game but not for Kohli,” Mishra said.

Kohli, according to Mishra, was probably not happy with Gambhir’s gesture and started to abuse LSG players when the two teams met again. Mishra said that Virat could’ve avoided certain things but he chose not to.

“He started abusing our players (in the LSG vs RCB rematch in Lucknow). He didn’t have any grudges with Kyle Myers but he abused him as well. Naveen-ul-Haq was bowling, he would abuse him too. Bohot cheezein avoid ho sakti thi but Virat Kohli ne nahi ki (a lot of things would have been avoided but Kohli chose not to).

Kohli even had an altercation with Mishra when he was batting with Naven in the middle. As Mishra tried to calm things down, Virat told him to explain the same to Naveen, not him.

“When I was batting with Naveen, I asked Kohli, ‘Who are you even talking to He’s just a youngster and not even close to your stature. Whatever happened has happened.’ He answered back, saying, “You make him understand that, not me.”

As per Mishra, Virat didn’t calm down even after the match concluded and continued to abuse Naveen, this is when Gambhir decided to intervene.

“But the problem began after the game. He (Kohli) started abusing him again during the customary handshakes. That’s when Gambhir intervened, questing why are you starting it again when the game has ended and you guys have won. I moved Gambhir away but Naveen later came to the dressing and said that Kohli started abusing again,” he added.

While Kohli and Naveen seemed to have buried to hatchet, having played against each other on multiple occasions since the incident, Mishra doesn’t thing the Afghanistan pacer will ever respect the Team India batter again.

“For social media, it all seemed to be over between them. But do you think Naveen will respect Kohli ever again? What about the youngsters who saw the incident where a big star was abusing others,” Mishra wondered.

Australia Test stalwart Usman Khawaja expressed his sadness at Afghanistan not being able to play in Australia, as he congratulated Afghanistan’s historic 2024 T20 World Cup win over his own country. Earlier in the year, Cricket Australia had cancelled a bilateral series against Afghanistan over the country’s “marked deterioration” in the treatment of women and children, following the rise of the Taliban regime. While the Afghanistan cricketers remain puzzled over the decision, Khawaja stated that the Afghanistan side was an inspiration.

Replying to a tweet by Rashid Khan celebrating Afghanistan’s 21-run win over Australia, Khawaja said:

“Well done Brother. Better team on the day. You boys are an inspiration for so many back home and abroad. So sad we can’t see you all play in Australia.”

In 2023 and 2024, Cricket Australia had cancelled a planned bilateral series against Afghanistan. The decisions came following restrictions imposed by the ruling Taliban, which did not allow women and girls to access higher education and public property like parks and gyms.

Needing a win to stay alive in the 2024 T20 World Cup, Afghanistan posted a total of 148 in 20 overs. However, the Aussie opening pair of Travis Head and David Warner failed to fire.

It looked that much like the 2023 World Cup clash between the two nations, Glenn Maxwell would take the game away from Afghanistan. However, he was dismissed in the 15th over, with Australia lying at 106-6. 

Gulbadin Naib was the unlikely hero with the ball, picking up four wickets: Maxwell, the in-form Marcus Stoinis, Tim David and Pat Cummins.

Afghanistan bundled out Australia for 127, registering their first win over the Aussies in T20 World Cup history.

If Afghanistan beat Bangladesh in their final Super 8 clash, and Australia lose to India, then Afghanistan will take a spot in the 2024 T20 World Cup semis.

Naveen-ul-Haq starred for Afghanistan against Australia© X (Twitter)

Packed streets of Afghanistan after T20 World Cup Super 8 win vs Australia.© X (Twitter)

It has not been a good campaign for Virat Kohli in the ongoing T20 World Cup 2024 but he recreated his famous six to leave fans thrilled during the Super 8 match against Afghanistan on Thursday. During the fifth over of the Indian innings, Kohli capitalised on a short and wide delivery from Naveen-ul-Haq and slammed the ball straight down the group for a massive six. The video of the shot quickly went viral on social media with fans comparing it to his famous six off Haris Rauf during the famous win over Pakistan in the T20 World Cup 2022. On that occasion, he similarly slammed Rauf for a mammoth six straight down the ground before guiding his team to a victory with an unbeaten knock of 82 off 53 deliveries.

Virat was ultimately dismissed by Rashid Khan after scoring 24 off 24 balls.

Earlier, Indian cricket team captain Rohit Sharma won the toss and opted to bat.

Virat Kohli’s Down the ground shot for six has a different Fanbase.#INDvsAFG pic.twitter.com/oycXnYw2sK

— KohliPremi(@cricketfied007) June 20, 2024

Left-arm wrist-spinner Kuldeep Yadav replaced fast-bowler Mohammed Siraj in the Indian cricket team playing XI. India have met Afghanistan eight times in T20Is and have never lost to them in the format.

What a shot for SIX by Virat Kohli. And Harsha Bhogle just reminded us that he played the same shot against Haris Rauf in Melbourne#tapmad #HojaoADFree #T20WorldCup pic.twitter.com/lZrij3lOVU

— Farid Khan (@_FaridKhan) June 20, 2024

“Looks alright at this moment, looks like a good track. No grass on the pitch, I guess it will get slower. It’s better than New York. We have to adapt to the conditions quickly. We have been here for a couple of days, we have played a lot of cricket. It’s about understanding what we need to do in conditions like these. It’s an early start. Usually starts in the evening elsewhere. We enjoy playing here,” Rohit said.

What a six Virat Kohli. pic.twitter.com/7yBG4wGLav

— The sports (@the_sports_x) June 20, 2024

Afghanistan captain Rashid Khan said batter Hazratullah Zazai comes into the playing eleven in place of Karim Janat. Zazai came into the squad as a replacement for injured spinner Mujeeb Ur Rahman.

“We would have liked to bat first. It’s more about how you play the game in T20s. Happy with our preparations and how things have gone. We are facing good teams, need to control our emotions, and play our natural game. It does help to get used to the conditions. We have to play good cricket,” he said.

Playing XIs:

India: Rohit Sharma (c), Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant (wk), Suryakumar Yadav, Shivam Dube, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah.

Afghanistan: Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Ibrahim Zadran, Najibullah Zadran, Hazratullah Zazai, Gulbadin Naib, Azmatullah Omarzai, Mohammad Nabi, Rashid Khan (c), Noor Ahmad, Naveen-ul-Haq and Fazalhaq Farooqi.

(With IANS inputs)

IND vs AFG, T20 World Cup 2024, LIVE Scorecard© AFP

Jos Buttler during the Cricket World Cup match against Afghanistan© AFP