Former India pacer Venkatesh Prasad has clarified that he didn’t have any problem with KL Rahul in the ODI team, but his criticism earlier this year was about Rahul the Test batsman.
Earlier in the year, Venkatesh Prasad had written scathing remarks in his tweets about KL Rahul’s form in Test cricket; Rahul was even dropped from the Test side, being replaced by Shubman Gill as the opener in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. With Jaiswal then scoring runs in West Indies while KL Rahul was injured, he might not make it back into the Test side.
But KL Rahul has shown great batsmanship in the ODIs in the middle-order role in the last few years. He’s been in superb form in ODI cricket, and that form stretched in India’s World Cup 2023 opener against Australia in Chennai.
Venkatesh Prasad said on News18, “Well, look whatever little criticism I had about KL Rahul, it was about Test matches, not in ODIs. I’ve cleared that aspect with you.”
KL Rahul, Virat Kohli batted patiently: Venkatesh Prasad
Chasing a 200-run target, KL Rahul joined Virat Kohli in the middle when India were reeling at 2/3. The pair added a 165-run partnership; Rahul finished at 97*, finishing the chase with a six off the Aussie skipper Pat Cummins.
About the Kohli-Rahul partnership, Prasad said: “Having said that, that partnership was important. In the mid-show, I had said India will have to bat patiently and build partnerships, and that is exactly what KL Rahul and Virat Kohli did.”
The former India pacer also pointed out the mistake that Australia captain Pat Cummins made. According to Prasad, Cummins should have bowled one or two overs each more from Hazlewood and Starc when both were bowling superbly with the new ball.
“Maybe, Pat Cummins could have continued with Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood. Instead of bowling them just four overs each, he should have given them an over or two,” Venkatesh Prasad added.
India’s next game is on October 11 in Delhi against Afghanistan.
