MI cricketers Sandeep Warrier, Kumar Kartikeya, and Vishnu Vinod faced backlash on social media after their Instagram post targeting Naveen-ul-Haq, the Afghanistan pacer, following their victory over Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in the IPL 2023 Eliminator.
Naveen-ul-Haq has been grabbing headlines in the IPL 2023 season, not only for his impressive bowling but also for his on-field controversies and social media presence. His altercation with Virat Kohli during a match against Royal Challengers Bangalore brought him into the spotlight. Since then, he has continued to attract attention through his social media posts and unique celebrations.
In the Eliminator match between LSG and MI, Naveen performed admirably, taking four key wickets, including those of Rohit Sharma and Suryakumar Yadav. However, his efforts fell short as MI’s Akash Madhwal outperformed him with an exceptional bowling performance, taking five wickets for just five runs. MI secured a resounding 81-run victory, advancing to Qualifier 2.
While Naveen entertained the crowd with his finger-to-the-ears celebrations, his previous “sweet mangoes” Instagram story returned to haunt him after LSG’s defeat. MI players Vishnu Vinod, Sandeep Warrier, and Kimar Kartikeya indirectly mocked Naveen through a photo in which they posed like the three wise monkeys with mangoes. The caption read: “Sweet season of mangoes.” Although the photo was later deleted, screenshots circulated widely on social media.
It was evident that Warrier, Kartikeya, and Vinod were mocking Naveen in response to his previous post featuring mangoes during MI’s match against RCB. He captioned a “sweet mangoes” photo right after Kohli’s dismissal in that post. Naveen had even posted another story when MI defeated RCB in that match.