Virat Kohli was seen signalling the Delhi crowd not to troll Naveen. It brought back memories of Kohli’s request for The Oval crowd not to boo Steve Smith.

The Virat Kohli vs Naveen-ul-Haq encounter during the India vs Afghanistan World Cup 2023 match at the Arun Jaitely Stadium in Delhi was not on the expected lines, to say the least. After what transpired between the two cricketers during an IPL 2023 match earlier this year followed by several rounds of indirect social media jibes, the anticipation was about a fresh round of fiery battle between the two. With ‘Kohli, Kohli’ chants at every sight of Naveen, the foundation too was laid by the capacity Delhi crowd. Afghanistan captain Hashmatullah Shahidi threw the ball to Naveen as soon as Kohli walked out to bat. Everything was set for a few words, a glare or two or even a full-blown ‘sledge hammer’.

Kohli asking Delhi crowd not to troll Naveen

In reality, nothing of that sort happened. Kohli faced 10 balls from Naveen and showed no intent to take him on. He was solid and got three singles. Naveen, on the other hand, didn’t get near Kohli’s face or even think about ruffling up the Indian legend with a bouncer. Kohli didn’t need to take an undue risk, to be honest. He is far too experienced to let an off-field tussle affect his batting in the middle. The situation of the match was anything but close. India were fully in control of their 273-run chase but one could feel the anticipation rising whenever Naveen was on the top of his mark to bowl to Kohli.
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In between all this, India captain Rohit Sharma, who was collecting runs like food in a langar, played a false shot off Rashid Khan to see his stumps rattled. Even as the entire Arun Jaitely Sadtium stood up to applaud what was a record-breaking and breathtaking innings from Rohit, something transpired between Kohli and Naveen in the middle that could not go unnoticed.

Naveen and Kohli were seen smiling, hugging and patting each other. It took the crowd by surprise but the moment it was shown on the big screen – quite a few times – it was greeted with loud cheers. Kohli and Naveen had officially buried the hatches. It was wonderful to see them in that kind of mood.

ICC’s 2 fresh videos reveal exactly what prompted Kohli to ask Delhi crowd not to troll Naveen

The crowd although buoyed to see the new-found friendship between Naveen and Kohli, were still not completely ready to let the Afghanistan pacer breathe easy. In the next over, Naveen once again had to deal with the ‘Kohli’ chants when he was in the boundary. But a couple of balls into the 27th over, Kohli was seen signalling the Delhi crowd not to troll Naveen. It brought back memories of Kohli’s request for The Oval crowd not to boo Steve Smith for his involvement in the Sandpapergate in South Africa.

Kohli repeated the signal when he reached the non-striker’s end after the fourth ball almost to remind the crowd that it was not cool.

ICC shared a couple of videos on its Instagram handle to reveal what exactly happened between the 26th and 27th over that gave a new lease of life to the Kohli-Naveen relationship. In the first video, Kohli and Naveen were seen hugging each other, all smiles In the second, Kohli was seen gesturing to the crowd. The second incident happened in the 27th over when Azmatullah Omarzai was bowling.