'He Told Me 'Let's Finish It', We Hugged and Moved On': Story Behind Rebonding of Kohli & Naveen - WATCH

The rivalry between Virat Kohli and Naveen ul Haq was expected to reignite in the World Cup 2023 when India and Afghanistan locked horns in New Delhi. A harsh reception was already on the cards for the Aghan speedster at the home ground of the former India skipper. As expected, the crowd booed Naveen when he was bowling to Kohli. But then happened the unexpected.

Kohli gestured to the audience not to mock Naveen. In fact, the duo was also spotted hugging each other and sharing a smile during the game with no animosity anymore.

Follow all the action from the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 including the World Cup schedule, World Cup 2023 results, and ICC Cricket World Cup points table. Players are vying to top the World Cup 2023 Most Runs and World Cup 2023 Most Wickets charts. 

A month after the World Cup match in Delhi, the Afghanistan pacer, who has now retired from the ODIs, revealed what actually led to burying the hatchet. Speaking with his IPL franchise, Lucknow Super Giants, Naveen said it was Virat who asked him to let of the past, settle things and move forward.

“He told me ‘let’s finish it.’ I said yeah let’s finish it. We laughed about it, we hugged and moved on. He also said that after this you won’t hear my name. You will only hear support from the crowd,” said Naveen.

Naveen also spoke about the support the Afghanistan team got in India and said it was almost like home for them.

“We got support in every game apart from that one game against India. Rather than that, we got a home kind of a feeling,” said Naveen.

Kohli vs Naveen in IPL 2023

Lucknow’s Ekana Stadium witnessed one of the fiercest on-field rivalry during the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 game between Royal Challengers Bangalore and Lucknow Super Giants. Tensions flared during the match after a heated exchange between the two players which almost escalated to a confrontation post-game. This incident also saw LSG mentor Gautam Gambhir getting involved in the matter and in the aftermath, all three of them were slapped with heavy fines from the BCCI.