Former India all-rounder Irfan Pathan has made a statement regarding the on-field and social media battle between Virat Kohli and Naveen-ul-Haq.
Pathan asserted Kohli is a giant of a player and should be respected by all. He reckons you may show all your aggression on the field, but off the field, the RCB star deserves to be shown respect and not be insulted or mocked or trolled by any player or coach.
The saga of Kohli and Naveen went from a verbal battle on the field to Instagram stories off the field. First, Kohli put up a couple of Insta stories during the LSG vs GT match, and then Naveen returned the favor when Virat was dismissed for a cheap score in RCB’s next game.
While it was ul-Haq who put up some Instagram stories, LSG mentor Gambhir, who had had an even bigger tussle with Virat , didn’t stoop to social media and hadn’t made any major statement.
With the IPL 2023 coming to an end, Irfan Pathan made a statement on the battle between Virat Kohli, and Naveen-ul-Haq.
“Virat Kohli is a very big and great player. He deserves all the respect. If you want to show aggression with him, then show it on the field. Off the field, give him the respect which he deserves. And that should not be forgotten by any player or youngsters,” Former Speedster was quoted as saying by Crictoday.
Meanwhile, Kohli ended the IPL 2023 with a couple of blockbuster centuries, although RCB got eliminated from the playoff race in the last league phase match.
He reached London earlier this week and has kick-started his preparations for the WTC Final 2023 against Australia, which will begin on June 7 at The Oval.
Under Kohli, India had lost the WTC 2021 final to New Zealand. So the 34-year-old must be keen to avenge that loss and end India’s ICC title drought of the past decade.
Here is India’s squad for World Test Championship final: Rohit Sharma (Captain), Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, Ishan Kishan (wk), KS Bharat (wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Shardul Thakur, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Umesh Yadav, Jaydev Unadkat
