"The Mango Guy": Naveen-Ul-Haq, After His 'Sweet Mangoes' Insta Post, Gets New Nickname From Nicholas Pooran

17.05.2023 - 16:59 sports.ndtv.com

Afghanistan pacer Naveen-ul-Haq and mangoes seem to have a quirky relationship. It all started when the bowler got social media buzzing with a post about mangoes. "Sweet mango's," wrote the Afghanistan star while sharing a picture of mangoes being put in front of a TV screen that had Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Mumbai Indians match going on.

It is worth noting that the visual the TV screen showed was right after Kohli (1) was dismissed. Given Naveen had a clash with Kohli around a week before, fans speculated it to be the pacer's dig at the India batter.

On Sunday, Naveen's Lucknow Super Giants' teammate Nicholas Pooran uploaded a video on social media wherein he nicknamed the pacer as "The Mango Guy". "Sweet mangos for everyone tonight #themangoguy#ipl#funnyvideos#fun#creatingmemories," wrote Pooran while sharing the video on Instagram. Watch the video here: A post shared by Nicholas Pooran (@nicholaspooran) Notably, both Naveen and Kohli were involved in a war of words during RCB's IPL 2023 match against LSG at the Ekana Cricket Stadium on May 1.

The issue escalated so much that the two players not only confronted each other during the match, but also gave rise to a spat after the game as well.

cricket Virat Kohli Nicholas Pooran India Afghanistan Bangalore

With less than week left for the start of the World Test Championship (WTC) final, star India batter Virat Kohli hit the nets on Friday to get into his groove ahead of the all-important clash against Australia. Kohli had a brilliant season with the bat in the recently-concluded Indian Premier League, where he scored 639 runs in 14 matches with the help of two centuries. The 34-year-old has been in excellent form of late with the bat. He will look to carry forward that form in the WTC final against Australia.

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Batting mainstay Virat Kohli joined the national team's training session on Monday at the picturesque Arundel Castle Cricket Club along with left-arm seamer Jaydev Unadkat, who seemed to have recovered from left shoulder injury. India will play Australia at the Oval in the one-off Test from June 7 to 11. The BCCI on Monday shared pictures of the members of the team, including Kohli, pace duo of Umesh Yadav and Mohammed Siraj on their official twitter handle. "Team India members begin their preparations for the WTC23 at Arundel Castle Cricket Club," BCCI said in a tweet.

Naveen-ul-Haq Warns Fans About Fake Account That Tweeted "I'm Sorry Kohli"

Naveen-ul-Haq has been at receiving end of a lot of online trolling since his on-field altercation with Virat Kohli in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023. Things got heated as the two players had a verbal spat during the match between Lucknow Super Giants and Royal Challengers Bangalore and since then, Naveen's online posts have been scrutinised minutely by fans for any connection to Kohli or the incident. After LSG were defeated by Mumbai Indians in the IPL Eliminator, a post made by a Twitter account bearing Naveen's name quickly went viral because to its connection to Kohli.

Watch: Naveen-Ul-Haq's Reaction As Chepauk Crowd Chants Virat Kohli's Name

The rivalry between Virat Kohli and Naveen-ul-Haq took an all new turn on Wednesday as the fans at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai chanted the RCB's batters in front of the pacer. The incident took place during the Eliminator match of IPL 2023 between Lucknow Super Giants and Mumbai Indians, where the five-time champions emerged as the winners by 81 runs. The day turned out to be treat for the pacers as in the first innings, Naveen took a four-wicket haul and helped LSG restrict MI to 182/8. However, his efforts went in vain as Akash Madhwal outshined him and took a five-wicket haul and bundled out LSG at 101.

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Rajasthan Royals Praise Akash Madhwal With Special Post. 'Mango' Connection Can't Be Missed

'Mango' is a fruit we all know. However, in the recent days, it has become a symbol as the fans associate the fruit with the battle between Royal Challengers Bangalore star Virat Kohli and Lucknow Super Giants pacer Naveen-ul-Haq. The heated clash between the duo during an LSG vs RCB game on May 1 became the highlight of the season's league stage with 'mango' also getting the spotlight post match. Naveen helped the fruit get a different kind of attention by posting "sweet mangoes" image on his Instagram story with the picture also containing a TV screen showing the clip of an IPL 2023 match between RCB and MI right after the dismissal of Kohli.