Virat Kohli vs Naveen Ul Haq 2.0 encounter is set to be reignited in the upcoming ICC World Cup 2023. The duo had an ugly spat in IPL 2023. But the rivalry didn’t see the light of the day in the Asia Cup after the pacer was not selected for the ongoing tournament. However, Afghanistan has announced their 15-member squad for the World Cup which sees a return of Naveen in the Afghan side.
Naveen Ul Haq failed to make the 17-member squad for the Asia Cup. Moreover, since Afghanistan was slated in the same group as India, the two sides didn’t meet. After being dropped from the squad, Naveen took to social media to post a cryptic message on the internet.
But on 13th September, Afghanistan announced their World Cup 2023 squad which saw the inclusion of the young pacer in the 15-member squad. This once again reignites the rivalry with Virat Kohli. India will play against Afghanistan on 11th October in Delhi in the ICC World Cup 2023 and sparks are bound to fly when the two meet on the center stage.
Virat Kohli vs Naveen ul Haq
Virat Kohli of RCB and Naveen ul Haq of LSG were involved in a war of words in IPL 2023. After the fight came to a halt by the intervention of the other players, the two continued taking jibes at each other on social.
“He (Kohli) 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. 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,” Naveen told BBC Pashto after the match.
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Afghanistan WC Squad
Naveen ul Haq returned to the Afghanistan ODI squad after a two-year gap for the World Cup in India while senior all-rounder Gulbadin Naib misses out despite a good showing in the ongoing Asia Cup.
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Azmatullah Omarzai returns from an injury that sidelined him from the Asia Cup while Naveen, who last played a List A game in 2021, also comes back into the squad. Naveen has played only seven ODIs till date, taking 14 wickets at an average of 25.42. Janat, who was recalled for the Asia Cup after a six-year gap from ODI cricket, was dropped.
Afghanistan World Cup squad: Hashmatullah Shahidi (c), Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Ibrahim Zadran, Riaz Hassan, Rahmat Shah, Najibullah Zadran, Mohammad Nabi, Ikram Alikhil, Azmatullah Omarzai, Rashid Khan, Mujeeb ur Rahman, Noor Ahmad, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Abdul Rahman, Naveen ul Haq.
