Virat Kohli and Naveen ul-Haq during the India vs Afghanistan match, New Delhi, October 11, 2023.
Credit: X/@mufaddal_vohra
Indian skipper Rohit Sharma's breathtaking century and the Indian team's strong showing against Afghanistan on Wednesday was overshadowed by the exchange of pleasantries between Virat Kohli and Naveen ul-Haq, signalling an end to their much talked about tiff which began during the last Indian Premier League (IPL).
Although the crowd in Delhi on Wednesday did not let Naveen forget his IPL antics, there was a break from the tension in the air when Kohli, during the 26th over of India's run-chase, engaged in a warm-embrace with Naveen.
Shortly afterwards, following Rohit Sharma's dismissal, Naveen was also seeing walking up to Kohli and shaking hands.
Kohli was too seen telling the crowd not to hoot at the Afghanistan player.
Summing up the incident, Ravi Shastri, who was on air, commented, "Naveen-ul-Haq, Virat Kohli shaking hands with each other. And this is good. The crowd love it. You might have your things to say at the heat of the moment, but this is absolutely great to see."
Fans on the internet too reacted in a similar manner, with many praising the sportsmanship of the two cricketers on cricket's biggest stage.
What had happened between Kohli and Naveen ul-Haq?
The tiff between Kohli and Naveen began in May this year during an IPL match when they clashed during post-match handshakes and even had a heated exchange prior to that.
The clash during the IPL match subsequently spiralled into a social media feud, with both Naveen and Kohli taking oblique potshots at each other, something that continued even in the build-up to the ICC World Cup.