"He didn't even write about Shubman's home numbers" - Aakash Chopra on Venkatesh Prasad comparing KL Rahul with other players
Aakash Chopra has hit out at Venkatesh Prasad for vehemently questioning KL Rahul's place in India's Test side. He highlighted that the former Indian seamer has used convenient numbers and also compared him to players who are no longer in the Indian team's scheme of things currently.
Rahul has managed a total of 38 runs across his three innings in the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy. Prasad criticized the Indian team management for persisting with the Karnataka opener, comparing his record with some of the other Indian players on his social media account.
In a video shared on his YouTube channel, Chopra pointed out that Prasad conveniently didn't share Shubman Gill's home Test numbers while comparing the latter with Rahul, elaborating:
"He (Prasasd) didn't even write about Shubman's home numbers. Because you are showing averages, he has played 11 innings at home in which his average is 26.3. I am saying that you shouldn't judge Shubman Gill with averages. He is a damn good player. He is a better player than that but use the same yardstick for the others."
The former Indian opener highlighted that Gill's overseas numbers look better due to his century against Bangladesh last year, stating:
"He has shown 14 overseas innings in which he has an average of 37, in which he has conveniently not spoken about SENA countries. If we see only SENA, his numbers will also not be that good. His away numbers are looking good because of Bangladesh."
Shubhman Gill has had a brief international career and in 14 overseas innings averages 37, with his 91 at Gabba amongst the best overseas 4th innings and has been in outstanding form .
Chopra pointed out that Prasad didn't consider Shikhar Dhawan's record in SENA countries (South Africa, England, New Zealand and Australia) separately while writing about the veteran opener's overseas numbers, explaining:
"He has spoken about Shikhar Dhawan's best overseas average - that he has an average of 39. He conveniently missed the SENA countries. If we talk about SENA countries, Shikhar Dhawan's average is 26. He scored a century in New Zealand but other than that, he doesn't have a century in any SENA country."
The renowned commentator added that Dhawan's name shouldn't have been brought into the debate at all. He reasoned that the Delhi opener is not even playing first-class cricket and is not being considered at all for Test cricket.
"He asked us not to see Mayank Agarwal's overseas average" - Aakash Chopra
Chopra highlighted that Mayank Agarwal, whose numbers were also shared by Prasad, has endured a dismal couple of seasons even in domestic cricket barring the recently concluded Ranji Trophy, elaborating:
"He asked us not to see Mayank Agarwal's overseas average, which is actually 25. Mayank Agarwal is very close to my heart. If we leave aside Mayank's form over the last three months, he hasn't scored runs in the last two years, not even in first-class cricket."
The 45-year-old added that the Karnataka opener is currently not in the Indian team's scheme of things, observing:
"When you see those numbers, you will say that Mayank is probably not in the opening slot's race at the moment. No one is talking about him. Getting Mayank's name in this debate didn't make sense."
Chopra questioned Prasad for sharing Ajinkya Rahane's numbers as the latter doesn't even open. He added that the former Karnataka pacer focussed only on the Mumbai batter's overseas record and not his performances at home while sharing his numbers.