WATCH: How Gautam Gambhir reacts after Virat Kohli & Naveen-ul-Haq bury hatchet during India vs Afghanistan ODI World Cup clash

The 9th match of the ODI World Cup 2023 which was played on October 11 in Delhi, witnessed former India captain Virat Kohli and Afghanistan pacer Naveen-ul-Haq burying the hatchet. Both cricketers who were involved in a verbal spat during IPL 2023 earlier this year, put their differences aside and hugged each other.

Meanwhile, former Indian cricketer and Lucknow Super Giants mentor Gautam Gambhir, who was also a part of the feud, reacted to this gesture of both cricketers. Naveen plays for LSG in IPL and got support from Gambhir when he was indulged in a war of words with Kohli. However, Gambhir said that the fight was on the field only and he also requested the fans to not troll Naveen.

Watch the video here:

“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 was quoted as saying by India TV.

“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,” Gambhir said.

We shook hands and hugged: Naveen-ul-Haq

Naveen also talked about the sweet gesture during the post-match presentation and said that Kohli is a nice guy and a good cricketer. He also said that the fight was never outside the ground but people made it big to gain followers on social media.

“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. It (what happened) was always in the ground, it 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,” Afghanistan cricketer said after the match.