'Finished Once And For All': Amidst Amit Mishra's Claim, Naveen-ul-Haq Responds to Query Over Feud With Virat Kohli

Amit Mishra raised eyebrows when he touched upon the controversy that erupted following a head on-field exchange during IPL 2023 between Virat Kohli and Naveen-ul-Haq. The incident happened during Lucknow Super Giants’ home game against Royal Challengers Bengaluru and resulted in Gautam Gambhir having a word with Kohli after the match.

Gambhir and Kohli charged towards each other furiously forcing players from the two teams and match officials intervention.

A year on from the controversy, Mishra, during a podcast, claimed Naveen will never respect Kohli the way he used to because of the manner in which the Indian batting superstar behaved.

“For social media, it all seemed to be over between them. But do you think Naveen will respect Kohli ever again? What about the youngsters who saw the incident where a big star was abusing others,” Mishra said.

Now, a video has been shared by Major League Cricket (MLC) franchise Texas Super Kings’ in which Naveen has reiterated that both him and Kohli have moved on and whatever happened was in the ‘heat of the moment’.

“I don’t have the count of it but many times now I have been asked about and have made it clear,” a smiling Naveen said. “It was in the the heat of the moment. He was representing his franchise and I was representing mine. It’s what I do. If it’s for my country or my franchise, I won’t back down.”

“At the end of the day, we are all friends. Some of us are colleagues and we just brush it out. It’s nothing that personal which would continue outside the field. But yes, social media keeps it going on till it gets something out of it. In the ODI World Cup, it finished once and for all,” he added.

At the 2023 ODI World Cup, when India faced Afghanistan, Kohli signaled to the Delhi crowd to stop teasing Naveen and later, the duo hugged each other putting an end to the feud.