Indian star opener batter KL Rahul is on the target of critics due to his poor performances. He has not been able to score a half-century in the last 10 innings. Rahul has scored 20, 17 and 1 in three innings of the ongoing Test series against Australia. He has been selected in the team for the third and fourth tests. Also, he returned to ODIs. Seeing Rahul’s poor form, no one expected him to be selected. Even two former players of India have clashed with each other regarding him. It seemed he would not be selected for the last two Tests, but Rahul has been given a chance again.
Indian’s former cricketer Venkatesh Prasad lashed out at KL Rahul’s form first time in the first test match on 11th February. After this, he again targeted Rahul on 18th February after KL was out on just 17 runs. After the second set of tweets came from Venkatesh Prasad, another former Indian cricketer and renowned commentator, Aakash Chopra reacted and said to watch the timing of the tweet because cricket is a game of timing.
“I have a lot of regard for KL Rahul’s talent and ability, but sadly his performances have been well below par. A test average of 34 after 46 tests and more than 8 years in international cricket is ordinary. Can’t think of many who have been given so many chances. Especially Rahul’s selection is not based on performance but on favoritism. Has been consistently inconsistent and, for someone who has been around for 8 years, has not converted potential into performances. One of the reasons why many ex-cricketers aren’t vocal despite seeing such favoritism is the chances of losing out on potential IPL gigs. They wouldn’t want to rub the captain of a franchisee the wrong way, as in today’s age, most people like yes men and blind approvers. Often well-wishers are your best critics, but times have changed & people don’t want to be told the truth.” This is the first set of tweets from Venkatesh Prasad on 11th February over KL Rahul.
Further, he criticized the Indian team management, “And the bad form continues. Sticking with a player who is in poor form shows the weakness of the team management. In the last 20 years in the top order for India, no other batsman has played so many Test matches at such a low average.”
After this, Venkatesh Prasad wrote, “Talented batsmen are not getting a place in the playing-11. Shikhar has a Test average of over 40. Mayank’s average is more than 41. He also has two double centuries. Shubman Gill is in excellent form. And the never-ending wait for Sarfaraz. Several domestic performances have been consistently overlooked.”
After the continuous tweet of Venkatesh Prasad, Aakash Chopra talked about Rahul’s form on the YouTube channel. He said that Rahul gets trended on Twitter as soon as he gets out. Everyone is giving their opinion and wants to criticize them. Akash then took the name of Venkatesh Prasad and said Venkatesh Prasad’s tweet added fuel to the fire. He is a former player. He should not criticize the players during the match. This should not be done when one inning is left. After the match, you should talk about it and give your opinion.
After this, Aakash retweeted Venkatesh Prasad’s tweet and wrote, “Venky Bhai, a test match is going on.” At least wait for both innings to end. We all belong to the same team, i.e. Team India. I’m not asking you to take back your views, but the timing may be better. After all, this game is all about ‘timing’.
After tweeting Akash Chopra, Venkatesh Prasad could not stop himself from replying. He wrote, “Honestly, it doesn’t matter, Akash. According to me, it is a fair criticism; even if he scores a half-century in the second innings, between the match or after the match, it is irrelevant here. Congratulations on your lovely video on YouTube; I enjoy it.
Venkatesh wrote, “Some people think I have some personal enmity with KL Rahul. Not actually. I wish him to get back in good form, and playing in this kind of form would never boost his confidence. Now that the domestic season is over, he should be playing county cricket in England. From there, he can get the form. Pujara did the same. But will it be possible for him to leave IPL?”
