'Bahar koi kuch bhi bole...': Suniel Shetty's fiery aim at Venkatesh Prasad after KL Rahul's 75* in 1st ODI - Watch
Following the knock, his father-in-law and Bollywood superstar Suniel Shetty took a fiery aim at veteran cricketer Venkatesh Prasad, who had led the criticism directed at the India star.
KL Rahul had made an incredible return to the Indian team on Friday in the first ODI match against Australia at the Wankhede Stadium. Just a few weeks after being dropped from the Test side amid an avalanche of criticism and losing his vice-captaincy role, Rahul scored a valiant and unbeaten 75 in the low-scoring thriller to guide India to a 1-0 series lead. Following the knock, his father-in-law and Bollywood superstar Suniel Shetty took a fiery aim at veteran cricketer Venkatesh Prasad, who had led the criticism directed at the India star. (India vs Australia, 2nd ODI Live Score)
Prasad was the first to question Rahul's place in the Indian Test team as he posted an array of tweets during the first Border-Gavaskar Trophy series match in Nagpur where he lashed out at the selectors, the BCCI and commentators for not calling out the "favouritism" shown by the management.
Following Rahul's yet another poor return in the second Test, the former India cricketer tweeted again which eventually led to a war of words with ex-India opener Aakash Chopra, who initially questioned the timing of the tweets before defending Rahul for his record away from India. The debate later took an ugly turn with both taking shots at each other.
Rahul lost his vice-captaincy role when BCCI announced the squad for the 3rd and 4th Tests against Australia and was later dropped from the playing XI.
On Friday, Rahul returned to the Indian team, in the ODI set up and scored a valiant 75 after a top-order collapse. The No.5 batter also found able assistance from Ravindra Jadeja as they scored a century stand.
When Shetty was asked about the knock, he took an indirect dig at Venkatesh, saying: “Upar wala jab hai na bahar koi kuch bhi bole (When God is with you, it does not matter what the outsiders say)."
Rahul was however dismissed for just 9 off 12 in the second ODI against Australia at the Dr. Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium in Visakhapatnam as he fell victim to Mitchell Starc.
