Former Indian pacer Venkatesh Prasad has made quite a reputation for himself over the past few months as someone who doesn’t mince his words while criticizing players on social media.
While he received a bit of stick in the past for having a go at cricketers, Prasad has started to voice his opinion against the BCCI with his indirect digs and blunt statements and that has received support of some fans.
On that note, let’s take a look at three occasions where Venkatesh Prasad openly criticized the BCCI:
#3 Reserve Day fiasco
There was a lot of uproar among fans when reports emerged that just the India vs Pakistan clash in the Super Four stage of the Asia Cup would have a reserve day and not the other clashes.
Venkatesh Prasad took to X and expressed his opinion by explaining how unfair it is for the other boards, indirectly claiming the focus of the BCCI and PCB was only on one marquee clash. He posted:
“If true this is absolute shamelessness this. The organisers have made a mockery and it is unethical to have a tournament with rules being different for the other two teams. In the name of justice, will only be fair if it is abandoned the first day, may it rain harder on the second day and these malicious plans not succeed.”
The Bangladesh and Sri Lankan cricket boards have come out and given a statement that they were kept in the loop while deciding the reserve day.
#2 Asking for transparency in tickets sales
While the late announcement of World Cup schedule and the change in some match dates had recieved scrutiny, the improper handling of tickets sale infuriated the fans further.
Many fans took to X to express their displeasure on the horrific ticketing experience and some also claimed that the number of tickets left for public were very less. Venkatesh Prasad questioned the lack of tickets available for fans and posted:
“I urge the @BCCI to have more transparency in the World Cup ticketing system and not take fans for granted. Definitely in a stadium like Ahmedabad, for an #IndvsPak clash more than the sold 8500 tickets need to be available when the capacity is 1 lakh + . Likewise for all other matches, a larger chunk needs to be for the fans.”
Prasad felt that the fans weren’t getting the respect they deserved.
#1 Urging BCCI to prioritize fans
BCCI did release around 4,00,000 tickets for fans for all World Cup games and many more fans now have the opportunity to witness the Men in Blue playing in the stadium during the showpiece event.
However, Venkatesh Prasad opened up on how chaotic the whole build-up to the World Cup has been so far. he posted:
“There is no debate and doubt on the fact that we have messed up the lead up to the World Cup. Unreasonable delay in schedule in the first place and if that wasn’t enough changing the schedule hampering 5 matches in the process, if that wasn’t enough a completely non-transparent and inefficient ticket system only encouraging black marketeers.”
Venkatesh Prasad has urged more people in the cricketing fraternity to speak up for the fans and also stated how this reflects on the image of India as a nation.
