Naveen-Ul-Haq reacts on patching up with Virat Kohli after verbal feud during IPL 2023

The 16th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) was in headlines as there was a shocking verbal dispute took place between former Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) captain Virat Kohli and Afghanistan cricketer Naveen-Ul-Haq who is a part of the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) team.

However, the Afghan pacer and Kohli patched up in the recently concluded ODI World Cup 2023 during the India vs Afghanistan league stage clash at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi. Naveen has now opened up about how they both patched up and hugged out all their past differences.

“Rohit bhai ka wicket gira aur drinks break hua. Drinks break khatam ho ke mai jaa raha tha long-on pa fielding karne. So I was about to pass (Kohli), and hamara ek eye contact hua, Virat ne bola ki ‘let’s finish it’, toh maine bola ‘Ya, let’s finish it.’ Unke dil mein kuch nahi tha, mere dil mein bhi unke liye obviously kuch nahi tha. Jo hua tha ground mein hua tha. I respect him as a player. Vo jitna kar chuke hai aur jitna kar rahe hai abhi, so we all have to appreciate and understand that. Unhone bola, let’s finish it. We laughed about it. We hugged, and we moved on.” Naveen was quoted as saying by Times Now.

He signalled the crowd to not chant his name: Naveen-Ul-Haq 

During the contest, Kohli and Naveen were having a fun time as both were laughing and after the conclusion of the match, both were also seen hugging each other. Naveen also revealed that Kohli ensured that he wouldn’t hear his name from the fans who used to troll Naveen by chanting Kohli’s name whenever he came to bowl or fields near the boundary rope.

“He said that now, after this, you won’t hear my name or something. You will only get support from the crowd. I said yes. After that, he wanted to tell the crowd or signal the crowd to not chant my name. So that was it,” he added.