The cricketing community was treated to a heartwarming moment when Naveen and India’s Kohli shared a friendly handshake and patted each other on the back. This display exemplified the unity and friendship that transcends the competitive spirit on the cricket field.
World Cup 2023: Rohit Sharma’s record-breaking century leads India to 8-wicket win against Afghanistan
“That’s a great gesture and I hope from here on, in the upcoming matches, in every one, people are reminded of Virat’s gesture because every professional cricketer works hard to make it to this level to play for the country, to play in the IPL,” Gambhir told official broadcasters.
“If you can’t support anyone, don’t criticise him. You have the right to support your favourite player but you don’t have any to criticise a player,” the former India opener added.
Gambhir also extended an appeal to the crowd to react more sensibly and as a host they can become better brand ambassadors.
“The most important thing is the way the crowd reacted, it should have behaved in a more sensible way because no one knew from this crowd what happened between those two on that day. The two players, their team managements only knew. I hope the crowds in the coming days behave better, offer better support. People are coming to play in our country, as hosts, we can become better brand ambassadors. The players coming here should take only good memories,” he added.
Kohli and Naveen have been at the loggerheads since they were involved in a verbal duel during the IPL 2023, the incident which saw the Afghan all-rounder escalate matters by humorously posting images of mangoes whenever Kohli faced setbacks or Royal Challengers Bangalore experienced losses in the latter half of the tournament.
