Afghanistan fast-bowler Naveen-ul-Haq has revealed the story behind his viral ‘sweet mangoes’ post on social media platform Instagram during the 2023 season of the Indian Premier League.
While Virat Kohli and Naveen-ul-Haq may have patched things up during their touching moment at the ODI World Cup meeting in October in New Delhi, the lingering mystery behind the viral “sweet mangoes” post on Instagram seems to have finally found closure. In an interview with IPL franchise Lucknow Super Giants on their YouTube channel, Naveen has spilled the beans on the Instagram story that was speculated to be directed at Kohli. But was it?
The incident unfolded shortly after the infamous clash between the two cricketers during their IPL 2023 encounter in Lucknow. The heated exchange, initiated in the final stages of RCB’s victory against LSG, extended to post-match scenes where an intense handshake was shared before their respective teammates intervened. This was followed by a war of words between the former India captain and the then LSG mentor, Gautam Gambhir.
A few days later, during RCB’s IPL match against Mumbai Indians at the Wankhede Stadium, Naveen posted a story on his Instagram with the caption “sweet mangoes.” The story revealed Naveen watching RCB’s match on TV. Although the post did not mention Kohli explicitly, its timing, shared on social media right after the former RCB batter’s dismissal, led fans to believe it was aimed at him. However, during an interaction with LSG ahead of the IPL 2024 auction, Naveen clarified the context behind the post.
“I had told Dhaval bhai (LSG team logistics) that I wanted to eat mangoes. And he got mangoes that night itself. When we went to Goa, he brought mangoes. So I was sitting in front of the screen and eating mangoes. There was no picture or anything (of Kohli); it was a Mumbai Indians player on the screen. So I wrote ‘sweet mangoes,’ and everyone took it in a different way. So even I didn’t say anything; I just left it. I thought it was mango season, so people’s shops should also do well,” explained Naveen.
The Afghanistan fast bowler, who retired from ODIs at the end of the World Cup last month, has been retained by LSG for the 2024 season. Lucknow has released eight players ahead of the auction, namely Jaydev Unadkat, Manan Vohra, Swapnil Singh, Daniel Sams, Karan Sharma, Arpit Guleria, Suryansh Shedge, and Karun Nair.
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