Former Pakistan cricketer Shoaib Akhtar took the higher moral ground and accepted PTV host Dr. Nauman Niaz's apology over the ugly on-air spat. The controversy finally seems to be settling down after escalating in the last few days.

Akhtar took to Twitter and wrote that the unpleasant incident on the national TV had hurt his sentiments, but he has accepted the apology of Niaz. "It was an unpleasant incident on National Television and it had hurt my sentiments that's why it took me a while," he tweeted on Saturday (November 13).

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The former cricketer further wrote that he wants to end this row and move on. "Taking a higher moral ground, I am accepting the apology of @DrNaumanNiaz. Let's move on from this," 

Niaz had apologized after asking Akhtar to leave during a cricket show on the PTV channel. In his response, the ex-cricketer resigned as PTV cricket analyst and walked out of the show. 

"I apologize and I will apologize a million times for my behavior which should not have happened because Shoaib Akhtar is a star," Niaz had said. "I had no right. To err is human and for that, I apologize. Not only once, but a million times. Shoaib has been a rock star. Whatever happened on camera was unbecoming," he further added.

Later, Pakistan's TV channel, PTV, had sent a Rs 100 million defamation notice to Akhtar after his decision to walk off the show and resign on-air. Apart from Rs 100 million as damages, PTV also wanted him to pay an amount of Rs 33,33,000, equivalent to a three-month salary, or else they will initiate legal proceedings against Akhtar before the court of competent jurisdiction.