ICC World Cup: 'Fight has ended', declares Gambhir after Kohli-Naveen hug

Virat Kohli and Naveen-ul-Haq were part of an on-field spat during the IPL 2023 but seemed cordial at the World Cup match, with Kohli even asking the crowd at Arun Jaitley stadium in Delhi to stop taunting the Afghanistan bowler.

When India faced Afghanistan in Wednesday's ICC World Cup 2023 fixture, many were looking at Virat Kohli and Naveen-ul-Haq in anticipation, given the iciness between the two from their Indian Premier League days.

However, the cricketers soon put the animosity to bed, sharing a hug,during India's innings.

Kohli and Naveen were part of an on-field spat during the IPL 2023 but seemed cordial at the World Cup match, with Kohli even asking the crowd in Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi to stop taunting the Afghanistan bowler.

Gautam Gambhir, who was part of the IPL spat, and a commentator in the India-Afghanistan game, slammed the crowd saying "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".

The ex-India opener added, "I would also want to tell the crowd and fans that any player in 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".

Afghanistan posted 272-8 after choosing to bat first, and then India came on and proceeded to cruise to a comfortable win in just 35 overs powered by star of the show Rohit Sharma's impressive 131 off 84 balls.

After the opening batters managed 156 between them, Kohli came on to seal the match with a boundary after posting 55 himself.

India will face Pakistan next in the highly-anticipated game at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.