Prithvi Shaw's outing in the first Test against Australia in Adelaide got from bad to worse when he dropped a catch off Jasprit Bumrah's bowling of Australia's No. 3 Marnus Labuschagne. With India managing just 244 in their first inning, the wicket of Labuschagne was crucial for India but Shaw, stationed at short square leg, failed to latch on to the ball when Labuschagne top-edged it in the second session on Day Two. Shaw was criticized on social media for this drop and some Twitter users even coupled his first-innings duck with the dropped catch to vent their frustration.
One user wrote: "When you play with Ronaldo on your team, you're already 1-0 up
- Zinedine zidane
When you play with Prithvi shaw on your team, you're already 0-1
- some unknown legend"
"Why is Prithvi Shaw in this team over Gill, Dhawan and Rahul? Cannot understand. He's a god awful cricketer. Poor batting technique and an atrocious fielder," wrote another.
Others were bitterly sarcastic. "Legend has it #PrithviShaw has also a bit of jonty Rhodes in him," wrote another user.
Ravichandran Ashwin dismissed Steve Smith, courtesy a well-judged catch by Ajinkya Rahane at first slip, and Smith's wicket may have come as a relief for Shaw, some said.
"Prithvi shaw must be thanking Ashwin as people moved from trolling him to praising ash," wrote a user.
Scenes from Hindi feature films were used to express disappointment.
Shaw endured a tough opening to this Test match and he would hope to counter some of the criticism pointed at him with runs in India's second inning.