On 21st February 2023, the argument between former Indian pacer Venkatesh Prasad and former Indian opener Aakash Chopra reached another level as Prasad took to Twitter to refute Chopra’s allegations that the former Indian bowling coach is running an agenda against batsman KL Rahul. Venkatesh Prasad has been vocally criticizing the selection process of the Indian cricket team and questioned repeated opportunities being given to KL Rahul despite his poor performances for the Test team.
Venkatesh Prasad tweeted, “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.”
He added, “I have no agenda against any player, maybe there are others who have. Difference of opinion is fine but calling contrary views ‘don’t bring your personal agenda on Twitter’ is funny for Aakash Chopra considering he has made a great career by airing his views.”
Venkatesh Prasad further said, “I 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. This is what Aakash had aired when Rohit was 24 with 4 yrs in the 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.”
Venkatesh Prasad went on to say, “And the argument that we should not criticize a player in an ongoing match personally doesn’t make sense to me. That doesn’t affect the player’s performance. Most players don’t read views even after the match and no player can read in between matches as phones are deposited. I admire Aakash for the hard work he puts on his YouTube channel but calling a different viewpoint as agenda because it doesn’t suit his narrative is poor. There is no bitterness between us and since his video was in the public domain wanted to put my point out here. Best wishes.”
The argument between the two former cricketers started when former India bowler Prasad expressed his displeasure with KL Rahul’s continuous selection despite his poor form, leading Aakash Chopra to term it a personal agenda. Chopra released a video explaining why Prasad shouldn’t have done that and provided Rahul’s figures in SENA (South Africa, England, New Zealand, and Australia) countries after Prasad shared his overall statistics in away Tests.
Akash Chopra argued that selectors are right in keeping faith with KL Rahul during the Border Gavaskar Trophy in India based on his performances outside India.
Chopra has now responded to Prasad’s string of tweets and invited him for a debate on his YouTube channel. Responding on Twitter, Chopra said, “Venky bhai, msgs are getting lost in translation. You here. Me on YT. I invite you to come on a Video Chat…we can do it Live. Difference on opinions is nice…lets do it properly.”
KL Rahul has made 38 runs in his 3 innings during the ongoing Border Gavaskar Trophy against Australia and has been struggling for form for a long time.