Cheteshwar Pujara received a lot of flak for his poor running between the wickets after India suffered a crushing 135-run defeat at the hands of the South African cricket team in the second Test in Centurion.
Pujara, who is known for his dogged defense, failed to make his ground in both innings of the Test. This earned him a dubious distinction of being the first Indian cricketer to be run out twice in a Test.
On Friday, though, Pujara received support from Indian cricket team coach, Ravi Shastri, who posted on his Twitter timeline a picture of him holding a leopard statue along with Pujara.
“Don’t laugh like us. Watch my boy henceforth,” was the caption Shastri used with the picture, which probably implied that Pujara would from now on show the agility of a leopard while running between the wickets.
Shastri’s effort to raise the spirit of Pujara, however, backfired on the micro blogging site as a section of Twitter users came down hard at him, trolling him and his protégé mercilessly.
{{/usCountry}}Shastri’s effort to raise the spirit of Pujara, however, backfired on the micro blogging site as a section of Twitter users came down hard at him, trolling him and his protégé mercilessly.
{{/usCountry}}We have handpicked some of the best reactions here. Take a look.
India are 2-0 down in the three-match series against South Africa. The third and last Test of the series begins in Johannesburg on January 24.