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'Criticism Was About..'- Venkatesh Prasad Eats His Words As KL Rahul's Bat Does The Talking

image-lnj0pf0yKL Rahul played a match-winning knock vs Australia 

In an exceptional display of skill and temperament at World Cup 2023, KL Rahul emerged as India's saviour, playing a wonderful knock of 97* runs against Australia in Chennai.

Venkatesh Prasad backtracks as KL Rahul shines vs Australia

Battling against the odds, his innings came when the Indian team was languishing at a perilous three wickets down for just two runs, with a challenging target of 200 staring them down.

Rahul, known for his elegant stroke play, found an equally resilient ally in the veteran Virat Kohli. Together, they orchestrated a match-altering partnership of 165 runs. Their combined effort is now etched in World Cup history as the highest partnership for India against Australia in the tournament.

Former Indian pacer Venkatesh Prasad, who had previously expressed reservations about Rahul's form in Test matches, was effusive in his praise for the batsman's performance. Contrasting his earlier stance, Prasad emphasised to CNN News18 that his criticisms were solely in the context of Test cricket.

“Well, look whatever little criticism I had about KL Rahul, it was about Test matches, not in ODIs. I’ve cleared that aspect with you,” said Prasad.

The Indian veteran further acknowledged the challenges faced by the Indian team and commended Rahul and Kohli for their strategy of patience and steady partnership-building, which eventually paved the way for India's significant win.

“Having said that, that partnership was important. In the mid-show, I spoke about it’s not going to be easy to bat., it’s going to be a challenging total to chase and I had said the Indian batters need to show a lot of patience and build partnerships, and that is exactly what KL Rahul and Virat Kohli did,” added the erstwhile cricketer.

While Rahul's innings culminated just three runs short of a well-earned century, the significance of his knock in the larger context of the match, and perhaps India's World Cup campaign, cannot be understated.