'Let's not peddle agendas' - Aakash Chopra hits out at Venkatesh Prasad over criticism of KL Rahul

Former India cricketers Aakash Chopra and Venkatesh Prasad are at loggerheads over the inclusion of Indian cricketer KL Rahul in the playing XI in the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2023.

Rahul has been struggling with the bat and the debate around his inclusion in the team has started to gain momentum. Prasad had voiced his opinion on Rahul even before the official commencement of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.

Request you to stay calm: Aakash Chopra to Venkatesh Prasad

"I am not saying KL Rahul will become like Rohit Sharma but I humbly request you to stay calm. If there are any agendas, let's not peddle them. Let's talk about the numbers that are actually there and not those that suit your thoughts," the 45-year-old said while speaking in a video shared on his YouTube channel.

Notably, Prasad had taken the names of Shubman Gill, Shikhar Dhawan, Mayank Agarwal and Ajinkya Rahane while making statistical comparisons with KL Rahul. Chopra analysed the stats of all the players mentioned to point where Venkatesh was going wrong regarding KL Rahul.

Venkatesh Prasad@venkateshprasad

There is a view that KL Rahul has an outstanding overseas Test record. But stats speak otherwise. He has a test avg of 30 overseas in 56 innings. He has scored 6 overseas centuries but followed it up with a string of low scores that’s why averaging 30. Let’s look at a few others

Venkatesh Prasad@venkateshprasad

Shikhar Dhawan has the best overseas average amongst recent openers. Avg of nearly 40 with 5 100’s. Though he too hasn’t been consistent in Test but had Outstanding centuries in SL and NZ, plus a much better home record.

10:13 AM · Feb 20, 2023

6.2K707

"He (Prasad) didn't even write about Shubman's home numbers. Because you are showing averages, he has played 11 innings at home in which his average is 26.3. I am saying that you shouldn't judge Shubman Gill with averages. He is a damn good player. He is a better player than that but use the same yardstick for the others.

He has shown 14 overseas innings in which he has an average of 37, in which he has conveniently not spoken about SENA countries. If we see only SENA, his numbers will also not be that good. His away numbers are looking good because of Bangladesh," said Chopra.

"He has spoken about Shikhar Dhawan's best overseas average - that he has an average of 39. He conveniently missed the SENA countries. If we talk about SENA countries, Shikhar Dhawan's average is 26. He scored a century in New Zealand but other than that, he doesn't have a century in any SENA country.

"He asked us not to see Mayank Agarwal's overseas average, which is actually 25. Mayank Agarwal is very close to my heart. If we leave aside Mayank's form over the last three months, he hasn't scored runs in the last two years, not even in first-class cricket.

When you see those numbers, you will say that Mayank is probably not in the opening slot's race at the moment. No one is talking about him. Getting Mayank's name in this debate didn't make sense," added Chopra.

On an ending note, Chopra urged Prasad to go easy on KL Rahul and give him some time and space to allow him find his mojo.

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