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Cricket

'Galat Admi se panga le liya' - Fans react as Chennai crowd taunts Naveen-ul-Haq with 'Kohli' chants during IPL 2023 eliminator

Chennai crowd taunted Naveen-ul-Haq with 'Kohli' chants during the Eliminator of IPL 2023. Here's how fans reacted.

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Naveen-ul-Haq, LSG, IPL 2023

Naveen-ul-Haq, LSG, IPL 2023 (Source: Twitter)

Suryakumar Yadav and Cameron Green were using cruise control while driving the Mumbai Indians at the midway point. With no spin and a majority of genuine bounce, the two right-handers put MI in a strong position at 98/2. The pitch wasn't holding up as it did during the Chennai Super Kings-Gujarat Titans Qualifier 1 game yesterday night, and the light breeze made life simpler for the middle-order batters.

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Surya and Green both made money during the powerplay before maintaining their momentum for the following four overs. The stand was already worth 60 runs, and LSG chose Naveen-ul-Haq since they were in dire need of a wicket. Last night, Mohit Sharma was highly productive over a similar time frame with his cutters and pace change, and Krunal Pandya would have anticipated the same performance from his seamer.

Naveen has continued to be in the spotlight since that heated argument with Virat Kohli, and his Instagram stories and tweets have garnered more attention than his performance in the middle. The Chepauk stadium's full house would erupt in "Kohli, Kohli" chants every time he stood on top of his bowling mark, and they became louder with each boundary and wide he bowled.

There were sporadic hues of blue and yellow in the audience, but none of the competing teams had the support of the spectators. Virat Kohli, who may be several thousand kilometers away from the play, received the loudest chants.

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Naveen-ul-Haq returned with figures of 4/38 vs MI

But rather than demoralising Naveen, the cries encouraged him as the seamer went on to ruin MI's innings by dismissing Surya and Green in the same over after first dismissing Rohit Sharma. Like Mohit, Naveen utilised variations and the cutters well in the MI innings' second half.

Green was defeated by the scrambling off-cutter that rushed in fast and went through the gate after forcing Surya to mistake the massive hit to K Gowtham in the deep. Naveen halted MI's innings after six deliveries and celebrated the valuable wickets by standing still and sticking his fingers into both ears.

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Both the crowd and Naveen had more to do. The "Kohli, Kohli" chanting started up again when Naveen returned for his third over—the 16th of the MI innings—and got louder when Tilak Verma hit a ball into the bleachers. The crowd, which had been perplexed about who to chant for the majority of the evening, finally understood what to do and saved their lungs for the grand finale—Naveen's final over.

It was a crucial 18th over in the overall scheme of the game because the final three overs may have seen a change in the tide. The crowd was recalling Kohli once again after three wides and one six from the first three. And even louder this time. After three consecutive wides, Naveen appeared a little frazzled, and Pandya had to reassure his bowler.

Here’s how fans reacted:

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