Former India cricketers Venkatesh Prasad and Aakash Chopra have been involved in a war of words over KL Rahul’s poor form. Rahul has been going through a lean patch for quite some time now and the calls to drop him from the team have increased by leaps and bounds following his failures in the first two games of the ongoing Test series against Australia.
Venkatesh Prasad has been very vocal about Rahul’s poor performances and has not shied away from stating that the under-performing batsman does not deserve a place in the team. And while Venkatesh Prasad criticised Rahul publicly on Twitter, Chopra decided to defend him.
Venkatesh Prasad has not minced his words while taking shots at Rahul in recent days. The former pacer questioned Rahul’s place in the team and even alleged ‘favouritism’ in the Indian team. He also pointed out that the likes of Shikhar Dhawan and Mayank Agarwal did not get as much as support as Rahul is getting.
During the Delhi Test too, Venkatesh Prasad had posted a number of tweets, criticising Rahul. Chopra had reacted to those tweets and had urged the former cricketer to to refrain from tweeting about Rahul in the middle of the match.
Venkatesh Prasad slams Aakash Chopra:
Later, Chopra spoke about Rahul’s form on his YouTube channel and indirectly said that the Venkatesh Prasad had some agenda against the opener. The former cricketer-turned-commentator alleged that Prasad conveniently showcased numbers of Mayank, Dhawan and Shubman Gill that would suit his argument.
The comments have not gone down well with Prasad who decided to give it back to Chopra. In a strongly-worded tweet, Prasad slammed Chopra and called the video vile. Not only that, he also posted a screenshot of Chopra’s ‘sarcastic’ tweet about Rohit Sharma from 2012 to slam the former opener.
“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,” Prasad wrote.
“I have no agenda against any player, maybe there are others who have. Difference of opinion is fine but calling contrary views as apna personal agenda and Twitter par mat laayein is funny for @cricketaakash, considering he has made a great career by airing his views.
“have nothing against KL or any other player, my voice has been against unfair selection and different yardsticks for performers. Be it Sarfaraz or Kuldeep, have voiced based on merit. But it was disappointing to see Aakash calling it personal agenda,” he added.
Here are the tweets posted by Venkatesh Prasad:
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
This is what Aakash had aired when Rohit was 24 with 4 yrs in international cross. He can use sarcasm for Rohit at 24, and I cannot point out underperforming Rahul at 31 with 8 years in International cricket. Yeh bhi sahi hai pic.twitter.com/caNnrbC5lj
— Venkatesh Prasad (@venkateshprasad) February 21, 2023
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