“I have learnt so many things from Gautam Gambhir”- Naveen-ul-Haq

The right-arm pacer from Afghanistan, Naveen-ul-Haq, who is playing for Lucknow Super Giants in the IPL season 16, has caught the eye of cricket fans this season for negative reasons, as he had a verbal and slightly physical spat with Virat Kohli post-match, and the verbal spat turned ugly when Gautam Gambhir intervened, and then Kohli and Gambhir had the verbal argument due to which three of them were penalized for their match fees. LSG, after winning their crucial matches, qualified for the playoffs and clashed with five-time IPL champions Mumbai Indians, but couldn’t finish on the winning side and lost the match by 81 runs.

During the post-match press conference, when Naveen-ul-Haq was asked about the bonding between him and his mentor Gautam Gambhir, he stated that he has learned many things from Gautam Gambhir, and the way he takes care of the players of his team and stands up for them is something that every player should do for his teammates.

“Mentor, coach, player or anyone. I will stand for each teammate on the ground, and that’s what I expect from each individual also. He (Gambhir) has been a legend for India, he has huge respect in India. He has given so much to Indian cricket. As a mentor, as a coach, as a legend of cricket, I respect him a lot and have learnt so many things from him. How I should go about my cricket inside the field and same thing outside,”

Naveen-ul-Haq during post-match presentation

Naveen-ul-Haq had a decent season this year as he took 11 wickets in the 8 matches he played. His team was out for the rest of the tournament this year, but the young man is keen to perform again next year, and when asked about his reflection on the performance he had this IPL season, he said:

“To be honest, it (his season) was good. We could’ve done better as a team. Individual performances don’t count. At the end of the day, our team goal was to win the trophy. My individual performance comes second. It was a good season for me, I learnt quite a few things from this IPL, and hopefully (I’ll) come back stronger,”

Read More: Is Yashasvi Jaiswal the next Gautam Gambhir?