Mumbai: Team India had a forgettable first two days in the World Test Championship (WTC) final against Australia.
After the bowlers allowed Aussies to post an imposing total of 469 at the Oval in London, the batsmen came a cropper on the second day.
The top four in the star-studded lineup – skipper Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara and Virat Kohli – failed to get past 20, It was left to comeback man Ajinkya Rahane and Ravindra Jadeja to put up a fight.
Kohli, having made 14, failed to negotiate a Mitchell Starc delivery which bounced more than he expected and edged to Steve Smith at second slip.
Adding to Kohli’s misery, he was trolled after the camera panned on the Indian dressing room and caught him open-mouthed as he enjoyed a meal, around teammates Ishan Kishan and Gill, and batting coach Vikram Rathour.
As the image went viral on social media, angry netizens – upset at India’s poor batting display — pounced on Kohli and posted some nasty messages.
On Friday, Kohli posted a cryptic message on Instagram Story, aimed at the trollers.
“You must develop the ability to be disliked in order to free yourself from the prison of other peoples’ opinions,” Kohli’s message read.
Here are some of the trolls targeting Kohli in response to the picture of his eating in dressing room:
‘Virat Kohli explaining to youngsters that IPL is ‘asli’ ICC trophy.’
‘Ehna nu burger khilao… pizza khilayo… fried rice khilayo’.
‘Bass cricket matt khilwaao… kyonki woh to khelna aata nahi… seems like drought will continue.’
