Lucknow Super Giants seamer Naveen-ul-Haq hasn’t been having it easy since his on-field spat with Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) superstar Virat Kohli at the Ekana Stadium earlier this month.
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The Afghanistan pacer, since then, has been in the news mainly for the wrong reasons, taking indirect digs at Kohli and RCB through Instagram Stories and posting strongly-worded statements defending himself.
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On Tuesday, during the all-important Eliminator against Mumbai Indians in Chennai, Naveen let the ball do the talking for once as he produced his best bowling performance in his debut IPL season, walking away with figures of 4/38.
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Naveen, whose previous best performances this season were identical figures of 3/30 against Punjab Kings and RCB in consecutive outings, played a key role in bringing Lucknow back into the game after Mumbai got off to a whirlwind start after opting to bat at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai.
The Afghan seamer drew first blood by getting rid of MI skipper Rohit Sharma, who hit a wide, length delivery straight to extra cover in the fourth over. The turning point of the innings however, was his dismissal of the set pair of Suryakumar Yadav (33) and Cameron Green (41) in a space of three balls in the 11th over.
Naveen broke the 66-run third-wicket partnership by foxing SKY with a slower ball, leading to a mishit that led to a simple catch near long off. Naveen then breached Green’s defence with a well-executed off-cutter in the last ball of the over to rattle his stumps.
SKY and Green, the pair that propelled MI to victory over Sunrisers Hyderabad at the Wankhede on Sunday, were going hammer and tongs and appeared set to guide Mumbai to a total in the range, or in excess of 200 at one point. The double-wicket over, however, resulted in a slowdown in the middle overs.
Naveen would later complete his maiden four-fer by dismissing Tilak Verma, who also perished to a slower delivery, departing for a 22-ball 26 with Deepak Hooda pulling off a superb catch near long off.
Here are some of the reactions to his performance:
Naveen ul Huq is such a good buy for #LSG. He has, almost singlehandedly, put his team in a position from which they could force a win.
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) May 24, 2023
He is Naveen ul Haq, LSG bowler.
He is the limelight of this IPL as he decided to take head on with kohli after his disrespect.
He was abused by Kohli fans but he didn’t budge a bit, he didn’t change his stand.
Today when everyone was praying for him getting thrashed, he took… pic.twitter.com/HiTrXfZQn5
— Dr Nimo Yadav (@niiravmodi) May 24, 2023
What stood out in Naveen’s wicket celebrations was him putting his fingers in both ears, as if to suggest he had drowned all the external noise out with his performances.
MI, meanwhile, finished on 182/8 after opting to bat with Impact Player Nehal Wadhera’s 12-ball 23 helping them cross the 180-mark.
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