Venkatesh Prasad has never shied away from expressing his bold opinions over social media. As such, the entire cricket community is aware of the ongoing saga of Prasad criticizing India opener KL Rahul. Rahul, who is in action in the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) series, has had a series to forget thus far. In three innings, his scores read 20, 17 and 1. The batter has failed to surpass the 30-run mark in his last nine Test innings.
Speaking on Venkatesh Prasad’s criticism of KL Rahul, commentator Harsha Bhogle was seen opining on the issue with former India wicketkeeper batter Dinesh Karthik. In the video, the 61-year-old can be seen saying that when any player plays for team India, one must continue to back them irrespective of how they play in the game. However, in his arguments, Bhogle also mentioned that he knows Venkatesh Prasad personally and where the former India speedster is coming from. He says he disagrees with the timing of the criticism but does not disagree with his tone or degree of the criticism.
Here is the video:
Harsha Bhogle on Venkatesh Prasad's agenda on KL Rahul. #TeamIndia pic.twitter.com/cseDjXie0r
— Kunal Yadav (@kunaalyaadav) February 21, 2023
‘Time to look at Shubman Gill over KL Rahul’ – Harsha Bhogle
While maintaining his stance of waiting for strategic moments to lash out with criticism on players, Bhogle himself couldn’t stop himself from suggesting that KL Rahul’s place in the playing XI can be under threat. While the Bengaluru boy has been retained in the squad for the two remaining Tests in the BGT series, his vice-captain status has been snatched away. This indicates that dropping the out-of-form batter from the Playing XI would now be easier.
Harsha Bhogle is of the opinion that Shubman Gill should be given his chance in the upcoming games against the Aussies. “India have time to ponder over the make-up of their team for Indore and Ahmedabad. He was unlucky today, but it might be time to look at Shubman Gill over KL Rahul,” Harsha Bhogle tweeted.
However, head coach Rahul Dravid has continued to back his player suggesting the team will not give up on him during a rough patch in his career. “I think he needs to trust his processes. This is just a phase; he has been one of our most successful overseas openers. He’s got hundreds in South Africa and England; we’ll continue to back him. I believe he has the quality and class to come out of this. It is great working with this unit; managing formats is the most difficult part. But there’s not a lot of technical coaching, just simple conversations and challenging them and giving them a pat on the back when they do well,” Dravid said.
