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Amit Mishra sparked attention when he brought up the aftermath of a heated incident during IPL 2023 involving Virat Kohli and Naveen-ul-Haq. The incident occurred during a match between Lucknow Super Giants and Royal Challengers Bengaluru, prompting Gautam Gambhir to address Kohli post-match.
The altercation saw Gambhir and Kohli approaching each other with intensity, leading to intervention from players and officials alike.
Reflecting on the incident a year later in a podcast, Mishra suggested that Naveen may have lost some respect for Kohli due to the way the Indian cricket icon conducted himself during the exchange.
“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.
A newly released video from Major League Cricket’s Texas Super Kings franchise features Naveen reaffirming that he and Kohli have put the incident behind them, acknowledging that their clash was merely a result of 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.
During the 2023 ODI World Cup match between India and Afghanistan, Kohli gestured to the Delhi crowd to cease their taunting of Naveen. Later, the two players embraced, marking the resolution of their previous conflict.
