IND vs AUS: Venkatesh Prasad doffs his hat to KL Rahul, hails batter for ‘brilliant innings under pressure’

Rahul,
who
came
to
bat
at
five,
lifted
India
from
39
for
four
by
playing
an
anchor
role
and
forging
two
crucial
partnerships
to
help
India
cross
the
line
with
61
balls
to
spare.

The
30-year-old
played
a
composed
91-ball
innings
for
75
unbeaten
runs,
thwarting
the
threatening
Australia
bowling
unit
who
were
all
over
India
at
one
stage.
Rahul’s
partnership
with
Ravindra
Jadeja
(45*
off
69)
accounted
for
108
runs.

“Excellent
composure
under
pressure
and
a
brilliant
innings
by
KL
Rahul.
Top
knock.
Great
support
by
Ravindra
Jadeja
and
a
good
win
for
India.
#INDvAUS,”
Venkatesh
Prasad
tweeted.

Excellent
composure
under
pressure
and
a
brilliant
innings
by
KL
Rahul.
Top
knock.
Great
support
by
Ravindra
Jadeja
and
a
good
win
for
India.#INDvAUS
pic.twitter.com/tCs74rBiLP

—
Venkatesh
Prasad
(@venkateshprasad)

March
17,
2023

Venkatesh
Prasad’s
previous
tweets
on
Rahul

Notably,
the
former
India
pacer
had
come
down
hard
on
Rahul
after
his
failure
in
the
first
Test
against
Australia
in
Nagpur.
He
had
alleged
that
the
management
was
“favouring”
Rahul
despite
other
in-form
batters
waiting
in
line
for
opportunities.
The
Karnataka
batter
scored
17
and
1
respectively
in
the
two
innings
of
the
second
Test
in
Delhi
Test
Venkatesh
again
took
a
shot
at
Rahul
and
even
brought
up
the
statistics
of
the
right-hander
to
prove
his
point.

Still
considered
by
management
as
the
second
best
Test
opener
in
a
country
with
so
much
batting
talent.

https://t.co/ipanuYBTKL

—
Venkatesh
Prasad
(@venkateshprasad)

February
18,
2023

The
tweets
also
gave
birth
to
an
ugly
war
of
words
between
cricketer-turned-commentator
Aakash
Chopra
and
him.
Chopra
defended
Rahul
and
requested
him
to
not
criticise
a
player
amid
a
Test
match.
Venkatesh
later
accused
Aakash
of
misquoting
him
on
his
YouTube
channel
and
calling
him
an
“agenda
peddler”.

So
my
friend
Aakash
Chopra
after
making
a
vile
video
on
YouTube
this
morning
where
he
calls
me
an
agenda
peddle,
conveniently
and
cleverly
misquotes
me,
removes
Mayank’s
average
of
70
at
home,
wants
to
gag
views
which
are
not
in
line
with
what
he
believes
but
wanted
Rohit
out

pic.twitter.com/2HwFLMgvmd

—
Venkatesh
Prasad
(@venkateshprasad)

February
21,
2023

However,
back
then
also
the
53-year-old
had
made
it
clear
back
then
as
well
that
he
is
Rahul’s
well-wisher,
adding
that
he
should
grind
himself
in
county
cricket
to
make
a
comeback
in
Test
cricket.

“A
few
people
thinking
i
have
something
personal
against
KL
Rahul.
In
Fact
it
is
the
opposite.
I
wish
well
for
him
and
playing
him
in
such
form
was
never
going
to
enhance
his
confidence.
For
him
to
earn
his
place
back
in
Test
cricket,
now
that
the
domestic
season
has
ended
Rahul
needs
to
play
County
cricket
in
England
,
score
runs
and
earn
his
place
back,
much
like
Pujara
did
when
he
was
dropped.
Playing
Test
Cricket
for
the
country
and
doing
everything
possible
to
get
back
in
form
will
be
the
best
answer.
But
will
it
be
possible
to
skip
the
IPL?”
he
had
tweeted.

Rahul
was
dropped
from
the
playing
eleven
of
the
third
and
fourth
Test.
He
was
also
sacked
from
the
vice-captaincy
role
after
the
second
Test.