Afghanistan pacer Naveen-ul-Haq has opened up his conversation with the Indian batting maestro Virat Kohli during the India-Afghanistan game of the ODI World Cup 2023. The 24-year-old had a heated argument with the former Indian skipper during the 2023 IPL match between Royal Challengers Bangalore and Lucknow Super Giants.
Virat Kohli and Naveen squared up against each other during the Indian cricket team’s game against Afghanistan, following their brawl in the Indian Premier League 2023. They got into a heated argument during an IPL 2023 encounter. Thus, a large audience witnessed their fight. ‘Kohli’ yells were indeed a regular tactic for people to make fun of Naveen around the world.
In a video posted by the Lucknow Super Giants, Naveen revealed that he had a conversation with Virat Kohli during their match. The Indian batting legend expressed his desire to resolve their differences, insisted that he could receive support from the crowd from here, and declared that he would stand by his teammates going forward in the future.
“He said, ‘Let’s finish it?’, I said, ‘Yes, let’s finish it’ so we we laughed about it, we hugged and we moved on. He said, ‘Now after this, you won’t hear my name’ or something he said [and that], ‘You’ll only get support from the crowd’. I said yeah (smiles), I will stand for my teammate. That’s why we are a team,” Naveen-ul-Haq said.
The Indian Premier League (IPL) controversy that erupted earlier this year between the veteran Indian batsman and the Afghan fast bowler became the biggest controversy of the IPL 2023. Naveen and Kohli got into a heated altercation during the chase. Without giving up, the two sportsmen got into a furious argument with Gautam Gambhir getting involved in the incident.
Apart From India Game, We Got A Home Kind Of Feeling In Every Game – Naveen-ul-Haq
Naveen Ul Haq said the Afghanistan team felt at home throughout the ODI World Cup 2023, because of the support they received, and added that they only drew less support during the encounter versus India, the host nation.
“We’ve got support from, I think, every game. In just that one game we played against India in Delhi we didn’t get any support (smiles). [Apart from that], we got a home kind of a feeling in every game,” Naveen-ul-Haq added.
Afghanistan has been one of the best teams in the ODI World Cup, where they shocked many higher-ranked opponents and finished with eight points after victories over Sri Lanka, England, Pakistan, and the Netherlands, assuring them a spot in the 2025 Champions Trophy.