IND vs AUS: Venkatesh Prasad doffs his hat to KL Rahul, hails batter for 'brilliant innings under pressure'

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Weeks after publicly tearing into KL Rahul for his poor run in red-ball cricket, Venkatesh Prasad has doffed his to the batter for his "brilliant innings under pressure" to help India clinch the first ODI against Australia by five wickets.

Rahul, who came to bat at five, lifted India from 39 for four by playing an anchor role and forging two crucial partnerships to help India cross the line with 61 balls to spare.

The 30-year-old played a composed 91-ball innings for 75 unbeaten runs, thwarting the threatening Australia bowling unit who were all over India at one stage. Rahul's partnership with Ravindra Jadeja (45* off 69) accounted for 108 runs.

"Excellent composure under pressure and a brilliant innings by KL Rahul. Top knock. Great support by Ravindra Jadeja and a good win for India. #INDvAUS," Venkatesh Prasad tweeted.

Venkatesh Prasad's previous tweets on Rahul

Notably, the former India pacer had come down hard on Rahul after his failure in the first Test against Australia in Nagpur. He had alleged that the management was "favouring" Rahul despite other in-form batters waiting in line for opportunities. The Karnataka batter scored 17 and 1 respectively in the two innings of the second Test in Delhi Test Venkatesh again took a shot at Rahul and even brought up the statistics of the right-hander to prove his point.

The tweets also gave birth to an ugly war of words between cricketer-turned-commentator Aakash Chopra and him. Chopra defended Rahul and requested him to not criticise a player amid a Test match. Venkatesh later accused Aakash of misquoting him on his YouTube channel and calling him an "agenda peddler".

However, back then also the 53-year-old had made it clear back then as well that he is Rahul's well-wisher, adding that he should grind himself in county cricket to make a comeback in Test cricket.

"A few people thinking i have something personal against KL Rahul. In Fact it is the opposite. I wish well for him and playing him in such form was never going to enhance his confidence. For him to earn his place back in Test cricket, now that the domestic season has ended Rahul needs to play County cricket in England , score runs and earn his place back, much like Pujara did when he was dropped. Playing Test Cricket for the country and doing everything possible to get back in form will be the best answer. But will it be possible to skip the IPL?" he had tweeted.

Rahul was dropped from the playing eleven of the third and fourth Test. He was also sacked from the vice-captaincy role after the second Test.