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During an exclusive interview, when Indian umpire Anil Chaudhary was questioned about a spat between Virat Kohli and Naveen-ul-Haq from IPL 2023, he justified the aggression being shown on the field by them. Anil Chaudhary was one of the umpires alongside Sadashiv Iyer during the infamous RCB versus LSG match from last year’s IPL, which is still talked about, to this day.
Notably, after Virat Kohli, the Royal Challengers Bengaluru batter, had a spat with Naveen-ul-Haq after the IPL 2023 clash, he got into the face of Gautam Gambhir, who was the mentor of Lucknow Super Giants at the time. Although their altercation wasn't physical, the animosity between the players stayed for the better part of the year before Virat Kohli and Naveen-ul-Haq managed to mend fences during IPL 2024.
Koi carrom board thodi khel rahe hai. Itna aggression toh hona bhi chahiye: Anil Chaudhary
When journalist Shubhankar Mishra asked Anil Chaudhary about the aggression shown by the players during the LSG versus RCB match in the IPL 2023, he replied, “Aap bowling karoge appeal karoge. Batsman koi shot marega toh thoda bahut toh rehta hi hai. Koi carrom board thodi khel rahe hai. Itna aggression toh hona bhi chahiye warna cricket dekhega kaun. Haan ek guideline hai uske aage mat jao (If you are going to bowl, then you are going to appeal. When a batsman hits a shot, then there will be something going on. You aren’t playing carrom board. There has to be some level of aggression otherwise who will watch cricket. Yes, there is a guideline which shouldn’t be crossed).”
Watch the video of Anil Chaudhary here:
“Thoda toh aggression se kheloge nahi toh bahut saare players hai agar aggressive nahi khelenge toh perform bhi nahi kar payenge. Wo har ek ka style hai khelne ka (There has to be some aggression otherwise a lot of players without aggressive mindset won’t be able to perform. There is a style to playing cricket for every player),” Anil Chaudhary added.
Anil Chaudhary was last part of the International Panel of ICC Umpires in the 2022-23 cricketing season before being replaced by Rohan Pandit.
