News APP

NewsApp (Free)

Read news as it happens
Download NewsApp
Home  » Sports » Podium incident unintentional: Ponting

Podium incident unintentional: Ponting

Last updated on: November 08, 2006 12:50 IST
Get Rediff News in your Inbox:

Australia captain Ricky Ponting says his team did not intend to appear disrespectful to India's top cricket official during the Champions Trophy presentation.

The Australians were criticised by Indian media after claims Damien Martyn pushed Indian cricket chief Sharad Pawar in the back to get him off the podium while they were celebrating their win.

Ponting was also criticised for appearing to gesture to Pawar to hand over the trophy and move off the stage.

Ponting, visibly impatient after the long presentation ceremony, gestured towards Pawar with his forefinger, asking him to quickly give away the trophy which Australia had won for the first time in five attempts.

"I was standing just behind the guy waiting to be presented with the trophy and it wasn't coming my way so I reached around to accept the trophy from him," he said.

Ponting said his team had never intended to offend Pawar but added that he planned to speak with him to clear up any misunderstanding and offer an apology.

 "It probably has had a little bit of the gloss taken off, but I'll be doing the best I can to get my point across to the concerned people in India and let them know we were not trying to embarrass them or anything like that," he told a news conference on Wednesday.

"Hopefully, we haven't offended him too much and we've got to be aware of those sort of things in the future. We've got to show the due respect to everyone that's around us -- that's part of representing your country.

"I'll decide once I've spoken to him (Pawar) and got a bit of an idea about how he's taken the whole thing, and not just listen to what's been said by the Indian journalists and what a fuss they're making of it."

Cricket Australia chief executive James Sutherland said he was satisfied the players had not meant to offend Pawar but was disappointed at the way the team had been portrayed in the Indian media.

"It is really disappointing because I know our players have the utmost respect for India," he said.

Sutherland added that he would speak with Martyn about the incident.

Get Rediff News in your Inbox:
Source: REUTERS
© Copyright 2024 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters shall not be liable for any errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon.

Paris Olympics 2024

India's Tour Of Australia 2024-25