Earlier this year, former pacer Venkatesh Prasad emerged as a staunch critic of the Indian cricket team, particularly KL Rahul.

Prasad had posted long threads on social media, criticizing the Indian team management for giving under-fire Rahul a long rope in the side.

However, Rahul has silenced his critics with some stunning knocks lately. During the Asia Cup 2023, the wicketkeeper-batter made his comeback to the team after recovering from thigh surgery and he instantly made an impact, scoring 169 runs from three innings at an average of 84.50, including an unbeaten century against Pakistan.

On Sunday (October 8), Rahul played a match-winning knock of 97 not out in India’s World Cup 2023 opener against Australia at Chepauk.

After this knock, Venkatesh Prasad heaped praise on KL Rahul and clarified that his criticism was about Test cricket and not ODIs.

“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,” Prasad told CNN News18.

Rahul arrived in the middle when the hosts were reeling at 2/3 while chasing Australia’s target of 200. Amid the pressure situation, he added 165 runs for the fourth wicket with Virat Kohli to bail India out of trouble.

While Kohli got out after scoring 85 off 116 balls, Rahul held the one end firmly and stayed unbeaten to take home with 8.4 overs to spare.

“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,” Prasad added.

India’s next World Cup match is scheduled against Afghanistan at Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi on Wednesday (October 11).