During a recent discussion, former India captain and renowned batsman Sunil Gavaskar shared an intriguing perspective on Naveen-ul-Haq’s unique celebration style that garnered attention from fans. Naveen introduced a celebration where he covered his ears, reminiscent of KL Rahul’s gesture following one of his two IPL centuries last year while playing for Lucknow Super Giants.
In the crucial IPL 2023 Eliminator match between Lucknow Super Giants and Mumbai Indians at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai, Naveen-ul-Haq showcased an intriguing celebration after dismissing Mumbai Indians captain Rohit Sharma.
Following his wicket-taking moment, Naveen put his fingers in his ears, symbolizing his intention to shut out external distractions and focus solely on his game.
Prior to this, Naveen had been celebrating his wickets by lifting his shirt collar. However, he introduced this new celebration style during the Eliminator match, where his performance with the ball had a significant impact.
In his opening over, Naveen-ul-Haq dismissed Rohit Sharma for 11 runs. He continued his impressive form by taking the crucial wickets of Suryakumar Yadav and Cameron Green in the same over, precisely when the two aggressive batsmen were aiming to accelerate the scoring rate during the middle overs of the innings.
Despite the challenging nature of the pitch in Chennai, Suryakumar Yadav and Cameron Green made batting appear effortless as they formed a rapid 66-run partnership in a mere 6.2 overs. Displaying their power-hitting skills, they confidently dispatched the ball over the boundary with ease.
However, Naveen-ul-Haq, recognizing the need for a breakthrough, employed slower deliveries to dismiss both batsmen in the 11th over. Suryakumar fell victim to a well-executed slower delivery, chipping the ball into the waiting hands of the fielder positioned at long-off.
On the other hand, Green misjudged the pace of another slower ball, resulting in his stumps being disturbed, thus ending his innings. Naveen-ul-Haq’s timely introduction of slower deliveries proved crucial in breaking the dangerous partnership and shifting the momentum in favor of Lucknow Super Giants.
Naveen-ul-Haq continued his unique celebration style even after dismissing Cameron Green and Suryakumar Yadav, which drew the attention of Sunil Gavaskar, who was providing commentary for the Eliminator match.
Gavaskar remarked on-air, expressing his opinion on the celebration and suggesting that players should embrace the applause from the crowd rather than blocking out the noise. Gavaskar humorously suggested a different style of celebration, encouraging players to acknowledge the support and engage with the fans.
“He has had issues with the crowd. You should celebrate by chucking your ears. This is the time he has got a wicket. He has got to listen to the applause. When somebody scores a hundred also, don’t chuck your ears. Listen to the applause, chuck your hand behind the ears and say ‘hello, now can I hear you?’. That’s how the celebration should be,” the former veteran Indian cricketer said.
Naveen-ul-Haq has proven to be a valuable addition to the Lucknow Super Giants squad in IPL 2023, contributing significantly with 10 wickets in 8 matches at an impressive economy rate of under 8 runs per over.
The incident involving Naveen and Virat Kohli took place during the match between RCB and LSG in Lucknow on May 1. The on-field spat between Naveen and Kohli escalated into a larger feud between the two teams, involving Gautam Gambhir and Kohli exchanging heated words after the match. As a result of the altercation, both Gambhir and Kohli were fined 100 percent of their match fees, while Naveen-ul-Haq received a 50 percent fine.
Naveen-ul-Haq had previously garnered attention with his Instagram stories during RCB matches, and his post about “sweet mangoes” after Virat Kohli’s dismissal in a game against Mumbai Indians sparked a reaction from the passionate fans of the RCB captain.