'People think I have something personal against Rahul...': Venkatesh Prasad's shock U-turn after Aakash Chopra criticism

Over the last two weeks, former India cricketer Venkatesh Prasad managed to make headlines after launching a scathing attack on BCCI's selection committee, India head coach Rahul Dravid and captain Rohit Sharma for their continued backing of opener KL Rahul despite a poor run of form. He accused the selectors and the team management of “favouritism” towards Rahul. Ex-India opener Aakash Chopra reacted to one of Prasad's tweets with a sharp reply which resulted in a shock u-turn from the former pacer.

Twice did Prasad take to Twitter to post an array of tweets questioning Rahul's place in the Indian Test XI. The first was during the opener in Nagpur after Rahul was dismissed for 20 runs in the first innings. The former cricketer had blasted the selectors for showing “favouritism” towards a “consistently inconsistent” player while also lashing out at veteran cricketers for not calling it out for the “fear of losing their IPL contracts”.

His second set of tweets was posted on Saturday, during the New Delhi Test after Rahul was dismissed for scores of 20 and 1. Aakash reacted to one of those tweets by questioning the logic behind the timing of his attack on the team management.

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"Honestly doesn’t matter , Aakash. In my view it is very fair criticism even if he scores a half century in the second innings . And between the match or after the match is irrelevant here. Best wishes for your lovely videos on YT, i do enjoy them," Prasad later replied to Aakash's post before clarifying his earlier two array of tweets on Rahul.

The 53-year-old said that he had no personal agenda against the India opener and rather urged him to skip IPL 2023 season to play County Cricket in a bid to stage a comeback to the Indian side.

"A few people thinking i have something personal against KL Rahul. Infact it is the opposite. I wish well for him and playing him in such form was never going to enhance his confidence. For him to earn his place back in Test cricket, now that the domestic season has ended. Rahul needs to play County cricket in England , score runs and earn his place back, much like Pujara did when he was dropped. Playing Test Cricket for the country and doing everything possible to get back in form will be the best answer. But will it be possible to skip the IPL?" he tweeted.

Rahul, meanwhile, has been retained for the final two Test matches against Australia, but has been removed from his vice-captaincy role amid his poor run of form.