Cricket: Naveen-ul-Haq claims Virat Kohli grabbed his hand, started infamous IPL brawl

Weeks after the infamous IPL brawl that broke out between Virat Kohli and Naveen-ul-Haq, the latter has opened up about the controversy in an interview.

The Afghanistan bowler said that he had earlier been provoked by the star batter, leading to the spat on the field.

During the 18th over of the match between Lucknow Super Giants and Royal Challengers Bangalore, the Afghani player accused the Indian of starting a fight.

He said, in the interview to BBC Pashto that he doesn’t sledge during matches, however, if someone badmouths him, he “gives it back”.

The pacer said that Virat Kohli started the fight during the handshake by grabbing his hand with force. Naveen-ul-Haq then added that he just reacted to the situation, since he is human.

He even said that one can look at the amount of the fines given to see who was at fault.

The tiff between ul-Haq and Kohli led to Gautam Gambhir’s involvement, which escalated the issue.