Mohsin Khan defended 11 runs in the last over (Photo: PTI)
New Delhi: Afghanistan players are shining with their performance in IPL. But, Naveen-ul-Haq has made headlines by fighting with Virat Kohli. Well, that is a thing of the past now. The latest news is that even in the Lucknow vs Mumbai match, he would have become a villain if Mohsin Khan had not saved him.
Now you must be thinking that what did Naveen-ul-Haq do in this match, due to which the matter reached to his becoming a villain. So this time he was going to become a villain not because of fighting but because of his performance.
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Naveen-ul-Haq gave 19 runs in the 19th over
The overall performance of Naveen-ul-Haq was not that special in the match. He did not take any wicket in 4 overs and also gave away 37 runs. By the way, the over for which he could have been made was his last and the 19th over of Mumbai’s innings in the match. Everything was going well for him before bowling this over.
Now know how he could have made his last over a villain. After the end of 18 overs, Mumbai’s score was 148 for 5 wickets. That is, to win from here, the Mumbai team had to score 30 runs in the last 2 overs. In such a situation, Captain Krunal Pandya handed over the ball to Naveen-ul-Haq.
Naveen-ul-Haq, who was very economical in his first 3 overs, got thrashed in this over. He gave 19 runs in this over with 2 sixes and 1 four. The result was that the gap between Lucknow and Mumbai which was 30 runs, has now reduced to only 11 runs.
Challenge of defending 11 runs in front of Mohsin
Now in a league where 20 to 30 runs are scored in the last over, defending 11 runs was a difficult challenge. Looking at the dugout of Lucknow Super Giants, it seemed as if their defeat is near. This was bound to happen because the batsmen who were on the field were Cameron Green and Tim David.
Mohsin defended the run, Naveen-ul-Haq did not become a ‘villain’!
But, in these adverse circumstances, Mohsin Khan did the work of hitting the ground for Lucknow Super Giants. He gave only 6 runs in front of Tim David and Cameron Green and won his team by 5 runs. In this way he became the hero of the match and came in the limelight. But, just imagine if Mohsin Khan had not defended 11 runs and Lucknow team had lost, Naveen ul Haq might have become the villain.
Also read: What did Rohit Sharma say after the loss to Lucknow?