Australia picked up a thrilling three-wicket win over India at the first T20I at Visakhapatnam on Sunday after Jhye Richardson and Pat Cummins kept their nerve and scored 14 runs in the final over, bowled by Umesh Yadav.

Put in to bat first by Aussie skipper Aaron Finch, India finished with a below-par score of 126 for the loss of 7 wickets, with top scores coming from KL Rahul 50 (36), Dhoni 29 (37), and Virat Kohli 24 (17).

However, Dhoni, who had lifted the man of the series award last month in Australia, looked rusty and his snail-paced innings of 29 off 37 balls came under much criticism from cricket fans on Sunday. The 37-year-old's contribution with the bat came at a strike rate of 78.37, the second-lowest by an India batsman in a 35-ball T20 innings.

While Dhoni's 29 did help India steady its ship, Australia scoring the winning runs on the very last ball of the match made his innings stick out like a sore thumb.

To express their displeasure, furious fans flocked to Twitter to criticise the veteran.

Ball to Dhoni #INDvAUS pic.twitter.com/XPqVIHoh3B

— Roshan Rai (@RoshanKrRai) February 24, 2019

#INDvAUS

Waiting for Dhoni to hit his first boundary of the innings pic.twitter.com/zzZ2kh6I3s

— Faking News (@fakingnews) February 24, 2019

Dhoni is hitting towards fielders every ball just to check which fielder is weak, so he could utilize it in World Cup. Legend! #INDvAUS

— (@FarziCricketer) February 24, 2019

Ideally Dhoni should be sitting in his apartment's park discussing politics with retired uncles of his colony instead of being in the playing eleven.#INDvAUS

— Mansi (@wtfmansi) February 24, 2019

MS Dhoni is a great batsman who has played many knocks for the winning cause.

Sometimes for India, sometimes for the opposition.

— Pakchikpak Raja Babu (@HaramiParindey) February 24, 2019

Does MSD think only he can bat..?..

Doesnt good sight to see that he can't even give strike to #9 and he himself won't score.. not good at all..#Dhoni #INDvAUS

— Akshay Hegde (@AAkshayHegde) February 24, 2019

Dhoni! Please retire or call in sick we don't want you in that flight to England for world cup. Please dont ruin all the good memories of past. #INDvAUS

— Vikash Kumar (@vikashkmr138) February 24, 2019

Me...waitin for Dhoni's finishing skills #Dhoni #INDvAUS pic.twitter.com/biiuVhLyAW

— Deepak (@imdeepak1599) February 24, 2019

*whole India is Blaming Umesh Yadav for the loss.
Dhoni rn#INDvAUS pic.twitter.com/GrY89n9zKp

— Not Arun Jaitley (@ArainJutley) February 24, 2019

Two players perform as per expectations these days.

Dhoni will give you dots, Umesh won't.

— Gabbbar (@GabbbarSingh) February 24, 2019

Dhoni and Umesh to each other after the match #INDvAUS pic.twitter.com/eX3VbgcZqO

— R A N (@engineerdhir) February 24, 2019

MS Dhoni after seeing memes on Umesh Yadav instead of him 😂 #INDvAUS #AUSvIND pic.twitter.com/fzMIRbfSPk

— Roshan Rai (@RoshanKrRai) February 24, 2019

Please Retire #Dhoni
Why don't you understand that you're not good enough for Indian cricket team anymore.#INDvsAUS pic.twitter.com/8abcUee0Av

— kunal ganotra (@GanotraKunal) February 24, 2019

Richardson picked up eight runs off the first four balls of Umesh Yadav's over, which included a four.

Cummins took strike needing 6 runs off the last 2 balls. A wide delivery by Umesh Yadav was punished through the covers for four.

With two runs needed off the last ball, Cummins hit the ball down the wicket, and the Australian batsmen scrambled home to pick up a nail-biting win.

As a result, Umesh Yadav too faced the wrath of cricket fans.

Indian fans going to meet dhoni and Umesh. #indvsaus pic.twitter.com/P0VIHTOaCm

— Shubham (@Shubh_saini_) February 25, 2019

Umesh Yadav pulling off what Gautam Gambhir could never do. Stealing the credit from MD Dhoni.

— rohitswarrior1 (@The_Sleigher) February 24, 2019

It was a comeback match for Umesh Yadav. He did well. Helped Australia come back in the game. #IndvAus

— SAGAR (@sagarcasm) February 24, 2019

The two nations will be meeting for the next T20I encounter on Wednesday, February 27.