Star India batter Virat Kohli and Afghanistan pacer Naveen-ul-Haq, who were involved in an on-field spat during the Indian Premier League 2023, finally buried the hatchet with a warm embrace during the ODI World Cup 2023 match between their two teams in New Delhi.

During an IPL 2023 match between LSG and RCB, Kohli and Naveen had engaged in a heated exchange. Later, the Afghanistan pacer was also seen taking a dig at the former India skipper through his social media posts, which added fuel to the fire.

On Wednesday, the cricket fans were waiting to see the face-off between Kohli and Naveen during the India and Afghanistan match but surprisingly both players seemed cordial, which touched the hearts of many.

Interestingly, the former India batter Gautam Gambhir, who is also the mentor of LSG, was in the commentary box during that moment on Wednesday. Notably, Gambhir also had a heated exchange with Kohli while defending Naveen in that LSG vs RCB match during IPL 2023.

The 41-year-old reacted to the ending of rivalry between Kohli and the Afghani pacer and weighed in on the hug between the two cricketers and slammed the crowd for the taunts.

“You fight on the field, not off the field. Every player has the right to fight for his team, fight for respect, and fight to win. It doesn’t matter which country you belong to or how good of a player you are. The good thing was when we saw Virat Kohli and Naveen Ul Haq in between the overs, we can see that the fight has ended,” Gambhir said on commentary during the match.

“I would also want to tell the crowd and fans that any player on the ground or on social media, shouldn’t be trolled or made fun of. You are passionate when you represent your team. It was a huge thing for Naveen to play in IPL for the first time coming from Afghanistan,” he added.

After the end of the game, Naveen ul Haq also spoke on burying the hatchet with Kohli. The Afghanistan pacer called Virat a ‘nice guy’ and a ‘good cricketer’.

“Crowd will chant for their home cricketers and that is what they did. It is his (Kohli’s) home ground. He is a nice guy, a good player and we shook hands,” Naveen told PTI.

“It (what happened) was always in the ground, there was nothing outside the ground. People make it big. They need that stuff for their followers. He said (today) ‘we are done with that and I said yes we are done with that. We shook hands and hugged,” he added.

Naveen, who has played just nine ODI games so far, will retire from 50 over cricket after the end of World Cup 2023.