Former India spinner Harbhajan Singh has questioned former cricketers Venkatesh Prasad and Aakash Chopra on their ongoing debate on KL Rahul’s form and asked them what they would have done if they were in the position of the opener.
Prasad has become a staunch critic of Rahul after the star batter extended his dry run, especially in the ongoing four-Test series against Australia where he has 38 runs in three innings. Aakash Chopra, on the other hand, questioned Prasad's antics of targeting the star batter during the 2023 edition of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
Both got into a serious war of words on Twitter and this led to Harbhajan Singh questioning both of his former India teammates and reflecting on their criticism of KL Rahul.
“If any player does not do well the first to feel bad are the player himself and his family. We all love those cricketers. If you are loving those cricketers then your anger is evident. But don’t get too overboard so that the player’s mentality can be damaged,” Harbhajan said in a video on his YouTube channel.
“If you were in the place of KL Rahul what would you have done? Do you think he is not trying to score runs? He has been a terrific player for India and he will come good. We are all giving our opinions on social media it is alright as it is our opinion but just don’t go after him. He is also human he is trying to do well. You who have been players I request you all try and see this from that perspective,” he added.
Harbhajan Singh himself had taken to Twitter to request fans to not be too critical of KL Rahul and leave the cricketer alone. He also asked which player has not gone through a rough patch in his career.
“If the cricketer is not performing he himself will make way for the other cricketer. Please do give time to KL Rahul he is our own player. We need to respect our players if we cannot do it how will it work?
“Show me one player since the time of Gavaskar sir, even before his time and even today. Is there any player who has not gone through a rough phase where he either has not scored runs or picked up wickets? In these phases, player himself needs to understand what is going wrong and what he needs to do to show for same talent and skills again,” Harbhajan said.
“My suggestion is- during these times instead of criticizing them let us support him which will be good for him and us too as his admirers..,” he added.
(Indian Express inputs)
