On the eve of India’s first game in the ongoing ICC Cricket World against South Africa, Team India’s head coach Ravi Shastri invited the wrath of Indian cricket fans over a picture shared by an Australian journalist on social media. The image shows him posing with two women and another man. The two girls appeared excited about getting an opportunity to get clicked with Shastri. The coach was also seen in a celebratory mood with the two.

Shastri’s picture that is in the question was believed to be taken Tuesday in Southampton in England where the Virat Kohli-led side will take on South Africa in the opening game of World Cup 2019. The Proteas have lost both the games they have played so far in the tournament.

Shastri’s photo didn’t appear to have gone down well with Indian fans with many criticising him for not spending time with the players. Some users also tried to connect the dots and insinuated that this was the real reason why the team management had decided to give media interactions a skip. The photo is now being widely shared on Twitter.

A self-proclaimed Pakistani fan with @DennisCricket_ as his Twitter handle first shared the photo and captioned it: “India’s World Cup preparations appear to be going well.”

Besides Shastri and two women, the photo features one man who is not a member of the group accompanying the Indian team to England.

Below are a few tweets of Indian fans on Shastri’s latest photo:

India will take on South Africa in its opening game on Wednesday. While South Africa lost the previous two games played against England and Bangladesh and look to bounce back in the tournament, India will aim to start its campaign on a high note.


In the 11 World Cups so far played since 1975, India have won their first matches on five occasions and lost on six.