Reacting to the Twitter war of words between Venkatesh Prasad and Aakash Chopra over KL Rahul, Harbhajan Singh has suggested that the former cricketers should care about the mental health of the out-of-form India opener.

Venkatesh and Chopra were involved in a Twitter spat after the former crticised the management for constantly backing Rahul and denying opportunities to other in-form and talented players in the country. After a series of tweets from Venkatesh, Chopra jumped into the picture to defend Rahul and suggested Venkatesh to not criticise Rahul in the middle of an ongoing match. Later on his YouTube channel, Chopra alleged that Venkatesh's pointed criticism was nothing but an agenda. The former pacer then called out Chopra for his "vile" video and asserted that it was "poor" of him to label something not suiting his narrative as an agenda. He also reminded Chopra of his 2012 tweet on Rohit Sharma.

Questioning Venkatesh and Chopra, Harbhajan has questioned what would have been their approach if they were in Rahul's position.

Harbhajan Singh questions Venkatesh Prasad and Aakash Chopra

“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,” Harbhajan added.

The former India off-spinner also requested fans to constructively give their opinion and not just go after the Karnataka batsman. He pointed out that all the players in history have gone through a dry patch.

“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.

“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.”

"My suggestion is- during these times instead of criticising them let us support him which will be good for him and us too as his admirers,” he added.

KL Rahul lose Test vice-captaincy

Rahul, after scoring 20, 17 and 1 in the three innings of the first two Tests of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, managed to retain his spot for the final two matches. However, he has been sacked as the vice-captain of the Indian Test team. There is a chance that Shubman Gill would replace him in the third Test in Indore from March 1.