Former cricketer Shoaib Akhtar and television host Dr Nauman Niaz — who had had a heated exchange during a live broadcast on PTV Sports that prompted Akhtar to resign and resulted in defamation suits — have reconciled following mediation by Federal Information and Broadcasting Minister Fawad Chaudhry.

According to a tweet by PTV News, Chaudhry invited the two to his residence and helped settle their differences. Journalist Saleem Safi was also present at Chaudhry’s residence.

Following the reconciliation, Niaz once against apologized on camera for his outburst that included curtly telling Akhtar to leave the studio during live broadcast.

"Shoaib Akhtar, I am extremely sorry for whatever happened on screen. It shouldn't have happened, for the reason that [we] have a 30-year-long friendship and that shouldn't go down," Niaz said.

Akhtar, who also featured in the video, replied: "It's fine. He (Niaz) said it, he said it. He should have said it a long time ago."

The video ends with Niaz saying "it's never too late" and patting Akhtar on the back.

Later, Akhtar confirmed his reconciliation with Niaz on Twitter.

"It was an unpleasant incident on national television and it had hurt my sentiments [and] that's why it took me a while," he tweeted. "Taking a higher moral ground, I am accepting the apology of Dr Nauman Niaz. Let’s move on from this," he added.