'Don't chuck your ears, listen to the applause' - Sunil Gavaskar's take on Naveen-ul-Haq's celebration style during LSG vs MI Eliminator

Former India skipper and legendary cricketer Sunil Gavaskar offered an intriguing perspective on Naveen-ul-Haq's new celebration technique after Lucknow Super Giants’ recent game against the Mumbai Indians. The two sides squared off in the IPL 2023 Eliminator, where the five-time champions MI knocked LSG out of the championship race.

Naveen-ul-Haq was phenomenal with the ball in the first innings as he picked up four wickets while giving away 38 runs in his four-over spell. But what caught everyone’s attention was his wicket celebration method, where he imitated KL Rahul’s century celebration style, as he covered his ears with his fingers.

After dismissing Mumbai Indians captain Rohit Sharma in the crucial IPL 2023 Eliminator match at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai, Naveen-ul-Haq put his fingers in his ears to show the audience that he was blocking out the outside noise. Naveen, who had previously raised his shirt collar in order to show off his wickets, adopted the new gesture during the Eliminator.

When Naveen-ul-Haq celebrated Green and Suryakumar's wickets in a similar manner, Sunil Gavaskar, who was commentating for the Eliminator game, took notice.

"He has had issues with the crowd. You should celebrate by chucking your ears. This is the time he has got a wicket. He has got to listen to the applause. When somebody scores a hundred also, don't chuck your ears. Listen to the applause, chuck your hand behind the ears and say 'hello, now can I hear you?'. That's how the celebration should be. That's old me saying this, by the way," Gavaskar said on air.

Naveen-ul-Haq, who has been a fantastic addition to the Lucknow Super Giants lineup for IPL 2023, has taken 11 wickets in 8 games this season at a solid average of 19.91. RCB defeated LSG on May 1 in Lucknow, and during the match, Naveen and Kohli got into an altercation on the pitch.

After the game, Gautam Gambhir and Virat Kohli exchanged words over the on-field altercation, which led to a larger dispute between the two sides. After the ugly on-field altercation, Gambhir and Kohli each received 100% of their match fees as fines, while Naveen received 50%.

Notably, Naveen stirred considerable controversy with his Instagram stories during RCB games, and his "sweet mangoes" post following Virat Kohli's dismissal from a match against the Mumbai Indians enraged the star RCB batter's supporters.