While Venkatesh Prasad didn’t name any cricketer in his tweet after India’s loss to England in the third T20I at Trent Bridge, it was clear to everyone who the former pacer was targeting when calling upon for Virat Kohli’s place in the eleven of the Indian team.
“Reputation,” “Rest,” “Reputation” again,”; invoking examples of Indian legends such as Sourav Ganguly, Virender Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh, Zaheer Khan, Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh to assert this opinion. It was a tacit attack by Venkatesh Prasad on one of India’s “greatest match-winner” in Kohli amid the batsman’s recent slump of form.
Kohli, who had managed scores of only 11 and 20 in the Edgbaston Test earlier this month, compounded matters for himself with scores of 1 and 11 in the two T20Is he played against Jos Buttler’s team.
What was good to see, though, was Kohli buying into the team management’s ultra-aggressive brand of cricket and abandoning his conservative approach with which he ruled the world in the past decade. Kohli played 9 balls in the two matches and attacked 5 of those, two of which resulted in a four and six while he got out to two others.
Venkatesh Prasad says Kohli shouldn’t play only on reputation
Venkatesh Prasad stated in his tweet that has gone viral, that even iconic names in Indian cricket had to face the axe when out of form; that they went to domestic cricket and made successful returns; that there needs to be more fairness in the selection system now; that other in-form youngsters should be considered.
Kohli is given a rest from the West Indies ODI series later this month, which also didn’t sit well with Prasad as he believes that “rest” and workload management are just excuses to bench big-name players.
“There was a time when you were out of form, you would be dropped irrespective of reputation,” Venkatesh Prasad tweeted. “Sourav, Sehwag,Yuvraj,Zaheer, Bhajji all have been dropped when not in form. They have went back to domestic cricket, scored runs and staged a comeback.”
“The yardsticks seem to have changed drastically now, where there is rest for being out of form. This is no way for progress. There is so much talent in the country and cannot play on reputation. One of India’s greatest match-winner, Anil Kumble sat out on so many ocassions, need action’s for the larger good,” he added.
Changed drastically now, where there is rest for being out of form. This is no way for progress. There is so much talent in the country and cannot play on reputation. One of India’s greatest match-winner, Anil Kumble sat out on so many ocassions, need action’s for the larger good
— Venkatesh Prasad (@venkateshprasad) July 10, 2022
