KL Rahul has regained his form after smashing an unbeaten 75 during the first ODI against Australia at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. His knock came under pressure when India were struggling at 39/4. Rahul alongside Jadeja forged a 108-run stand for the sixth wicket and helped India win the game by five wickets. Many former cricketers were criticising KL Rahul for his poor form but then after the former India Test vice-captain played a blinder of an inning, the most astonishing appreciation came from Venkatesh Prasad, who was constantly commenting against Kl Rahul.
On Friday, he took to Twitter and said, “Excellent composure under pressure and brilliant innings by KL Rahul. Top knock. Great support by Ravindra Jadeja and a good win for India.” Earlier, the former India pacer came up with a string of tweets where he said that Rahul should be dropped from the Test team.
“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. Some are just lucky to be given chances endlessly till they succeed while some aren’t allowed to,” he tweeted.
Prasad even went on to add that Rahul is playing in the Indian team due to favouritism.
"And to make matters worse, Rahul is the designated vice-captain… Rahul’s selection is not based on performance but favouritism. Has been consistently inconsistent and for someone who has been around for 8 years not converted potential into performances. One of the reasons why many ex-cricketers aren’t vocal despite seeing such favouritism… is the chances of losing out on potential IPL gigs. They wouldn’t want to rub the captain of a franchisee 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 truth”, he said.
Talking about the first ODI in detail, the Indian team won the match by five wickets and are 1-0 up in the series. Australia came to bat first and scored 188 runs. Mitchell Marsh was the star with the bat for the Kangaroos as he scored 65-ball 81. In reply, India chased down a total of 189 runs easily with the help of KL Rahul and Ravindra Jadeja, who scored unbeaten 45 runs.