"Virat Kohli said, 'Now after this, you won't hear my name'" - Naveen ul Haq on their fun chat in India vs Afghanistan

Afghanistan pacer Naveen ul Haq has revealed his on-field chat with Virat Kohli during the India-Afghanistan league-stage match in the 2023 World Cup in Delhi. He remembered that after their hug during the match, Kohli assured him that the host fans in stadiums wouldn't heckle the Afghan with the Indian's name.

Kohli, who plays for Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and Naveen, who represents Lucknow Super Giants (LSG), had a heated argument during IPL 2023, which went viral on social media. Before they even crossed each other in the World Cup, Indian fans shouted Kohli's name whenever Naveen came to bowl or bat.

In the World Cup clash in Delhi, they hugged each other when the Indian was batting and exchanged smiles. After that, although the heckling didn't stop completely, it reduced a bit for the Afghan in the following matches.

"He said, '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)," Naveen asaid in a video shared by LSG.

Reports at the time of the IPL incident suggested that Naveen was unhappy with Kohli's suggestion to his bowler to hurl some bouncers at a tailender.

While Kohli never really talked about the incident, Naveen said he didn't start the fight, and blamed the ace batter for holding his hands tightly during the post-match handshakes.

"I'll stand for my teammate, I'll talk for my teammate. That's why we are a team. Whether that's franchise cricket, or if you are playing for Afghanistan, or just club cricket. Basically, when it's about your country, you've to speak up," he added in the interview.

Afghanistan put up their best World Cup performance in 2023. They were in contention for a semi-final spot till their second-last league match and clinched big wins against England, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and the Netherlands.

We got a home-like feeling in almost every match: Naveen ul Haq

Naveen, who retired from international cricket after his team's loss to South Africa, also light-heartedly talked about the support his team received in all matches at the World Cup bar one.

"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," he said.

With the World Cup drawing close, India and Australia will compete in the all-important final on Sunday, November 19.