"Dusted off what happened in the IPL": Naveen, Virat bury hatchet with a heart-winning gesture

NEW DELHI: Indian batter Virat Kohli and Afghanistan pacer Naveen-ul-Haq have finally buried the hatchet as they faced each other in the World Cup clash at the Arun Jaitley Stadium here on Wednesday.

The feud between Kohli and Naveen erupted during the Indian Premier League 2023 clash between Royal Challengers Bangalore and Lucknow Super Giants. Things started to heat up as both teams came face to face to shake hands with each other when Kohli and Naveen were seen involved in an exchange of words.

Since that match, both players stepped on the same field after four months and buried the infamous chapter between them. During India's clash against Afghanistan, Kohli and Naveen embraced each other in the 26th over of the second innings putting the feud between them behind.

"It was his home ground and the crowd will support their team and hometown boy. He (Kohli) is a nice guy, a great player. We just shook hands and dusted off what happened in the IPL," Naveen said after the game as quoted from ICC Mixed Zone. The moment between both players took the internet by storm as fans praised the players for the gesture they showed towards each other.

Coming to the match, Afghanistan's star-studded spin squadron failed to test the Indian batters as Rohit smashed them for boundaries all over the field.

While chasing a target of 273, India got off to a flying start with the opening duo of Rohit and Ishan Kishan taking the fight to the Afghanistan bowlers. India seemed to have adopted a T20I approach after adopting a careful approach for the initial overs.

After the Indian captain struck a boundary in Fazalhaq Farooqi's over, there was no looking back. Rohit struck a magnificent 131 while Virat remained unbeaten at 55*. Rashid took the wickets of both openers Ishan Kishan and Rohit, but it wasn't enough as India went on to claim an 8-wicket victory at the Arun Jaitley Stadium.