[Picture] “Secretly prayed for KL Rahul” – Venkatesh Prasad visits temple with Suniel Shetty in New Jersey

Former India cricketer Venkatesh Prasad, who calls himself a critic of KL Rahul, paid a visit to the Swami Narayan Temple in New Jersey, United States of America, on Monday, August 21.

The 54-year-old was accompanied by none other than Bollywood superstar and Rahul’s father-in-law Suniel Shetty. The cricketer-turned-commentator said that he prayed for Team India as well as Rahul, who has been included in India’s squad for the Asia Cup despite his niggle.

Venkatesh Prasad took to X (previously known as Twitter) to share a selfie with Shetty. He captioned the post:

“Visited the Swami Narayan temple in New Jersey with Anna. Prayed for the well-being of all Bharatvasis & for the Indian Team to do well in the World Cup. Also secretly prayed for KL to smash it to all corners, have a great world cup, and silence his critics like me. Sab khush rahein. (Hope everybody is happy).”

The click showed Prasad as a fanboy while posing with Shetty, who outshone the former with his dapper look, wearing a white T-shirt, blue jeans, locket, and sunglasses.

Click here to check the heated argument between Venkatesh Prasad and Aakash Chopra regarding KL Rahul’s place in India's squad for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy earlier this year.

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Sunil Gavaskar backs KL Rahul to deliver in 2023 Asia Cup

Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar, meanwhile, has backed KL Rahul to deliver for Team India in the 2023 Asia Cup. That came despite Rahul being doubtful for the opening game against arch-rivals Pakistan. The cricketer-turned-commentator said Rahul is a classy player and should be given the chance to recover from his niggle.

Gavaskar recently told India Today:

"It’ll be fair to give KL Rahul, after all, that he’s done for India in the past to give him an opportunity to recover because we all know what a classy player he is. Let him play a few matches and thereby you’ll be able to see his fitness.”

Rahul, meanwhile, has completely recovered from his thigh injury, which cut short his stint for the Lucknow Super Giants in the Indian Premier League. He also missed out on the three-match ODI series against West Indies.

The wicket-keeper batter has emerged as a formidable force ever since taking the role of a middle-order batter. At No. 5, he has 742 runs in 18 ODIs at an average of 53, including one ton and seven half-centuries, so far.