  The Hubble tension refers to the discrepancy in the value of the Hubble
constant $H_0$ inferred from the cosmic microwave background observations,
assuming the concordance $\Lambda$CDM model of the Universe, and that from the
distance ladder and other direct measurements. In order to alleviate this
tension, we construct a plausible dark energy scenario, within the framework of
Horndeski gravity which is one of the most general scalar-tensor theories
yielding second-order equations. In our set-up, we include the
self-interactions and nonminimal coupling of the dynamical dark energy scalar
field which enable very interesting dynamics leading to a phantom behaviour at
low redshifts along with negative dark energy densities at high redshifts.
These two features together make this model a promising scenario to alleviate
the Hubble tension for appropriate choices of the model parameters. Towards a
consistent model building, we show that this set-up is also free from both the
gradient and ghost instabilities. Finally, we confront the predictions of the
model with low redshift observations from Pantheon, SH0ES, cosmic chronometers
and BAO, to obtain best fit constraints on model parameters.
