'KL Rahul's inclusion in India XI shakes belief in justice': Venkatesh Prasad

New Delhi: With the second India vs Australia Test underway , former cricketer Venkatesh Prasad has questioned the selection of KL Rahul after another poor show for the opener. The former India bowler has slammed the selection committee for persisting with KL Rahul despite his disappointing performances. The right-handed batter’s dismal run with the bat continued after contributing a mere 17 runs off 41 deliveries in the first innings. Prasad criticised KL Rahul’s performance, and the selection committee’s poor choices, in the recent fixtures. “And the torrid run continues. More to do with rigidity of the management to persist with a player who just hasn’t looked the part. No top order batsman in at least the last two decades of Indian cricket has played these many tests with such a low average. His inclusion is deliberately denying talented guys, in form guys, an opportunity to be in the playing 11,” Venkatesh Prasad wrote.

And the torrid run continues. More to do with rigidity of the management to persist with a player who just hasn’t looked the part. No top order batsman in atleast last 20 years of Indian cricket has played these many tests with such a low average. His inclusion is …. https://t.co/WLe720nYNJ

— Venkatesh Prasad (@venkateshprasad) February 18, 2023

He gave the example of batters like Mayank Agarwal, Shubman Gill, Shikhar Dhawan and Sarfaraz Khan as those who are waiting in the sidelines while the management persists with KL Rahul. “His inclusion shakes belief in justice”, the ex-India pacer stated.

deliberately denying talented guys, in form guys an opportunity to be in the 11.
Shikhar had a test avg of 40+ , Mayank has of 41+ with 2 double hundreds, Shubhman Gill in sublime form, Sarfaraz never ending wait.. Many domestic performances constantly ignored. His inclusion is…

— Venkatesh Prasad (@venkateshprasad) February 18, 2023

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“Rahul’s consistent inclusion gives an impression of lack of batting talent in India which isn’t true,” Prasad continued. He added that he did not see him as one of the top 10 openers available in the Indian side. “Guys like Kuldeep Yadav put in Man of the Match performances and next game are dropped with theories like horses for courses . In any course, KL is not a horse. Sad”, wrote the former cricketer.

His inclusion shakes belief in Justice. SS Das had great potential,so did S Ramesh,both avgd 38+but did not get beyond 23 test matches. Rahul’s consistent inclusion gives an impression of lack of batting talent in India which isn’t true. Last 5 years his avg is below 27 in 47 inn

— Venkatesh Prasad (@venkateshprasad) February 18, 2023

As per me ,he is currently not amongst the current 10 best opener’s in India but is being given endless chances. Guys like Kuldeep Yadav put in man of the match performances and next game are dropped with theories like Horses for courses. In any course ,KL is not a horse. Sad

— Venkatesh Prasad (@venkateshprasad) February 18, 2023

This is not the first time Venkatesh Prasad has questioned KL Rahul’s inclusion in the playing XI. Earlier this month, Prasad had stated that the batter was “consistently inconsistent” and claimed that his selection was based on “favouritism" rather than his performance.

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..

— Venkatesh Prasad (@venkateshprasad) February 11, 2023

Coming back to the game, on Day 2 of the second Border-Gavaskar Test, India struggled against the spin. Their batting line-up  failed to stay alive for long while facing the attack of Aussie spinners Todd Murphy, Nathan Lyon and Matthew Kuhnemann. Lyon scalped a fifer in the game, dismissing skipper Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer, Cheteshwar Pujara and KS Bharat. KL Rahul has been going through a rough patch. In Tests, his last century came in 2021 against South Africa at the Centurion. Read all the  Latest News ****,  Trending News ****,  Cricket News ****,  Bollywood News ****,  India News  and  Entertainment News  here. Follow us on  Facebook****,  Twitter and  Instagram****.