Australia's star all-rounder Mitchell Marsh has finally addressed the backlash he faced from Indian fans for placing his feet on the World Cup trophy after his team's victory in the final. A photo of Marsh was doing rounds on internet where he was spotted casually resting his feet atop the coveted World Cup 2023 trophy with beer in hand. The Indian fans on social media widely condemned Marsh's actions as disrespectful, prompting a barrage of criticism.
Moreover, India's ace pacer Mohammed Shami had also expressed his disappointment with Marsh's gesture.
In an interview with SEN Radio, Marsh finally broke his silence on the controversial incident, stating that he had no intention of disrespecting the trophy or the Indian fans.
“Yeah probably, to be honest,” Marsh said when asked if he would do it again.
“There was obviously no disrespect meant in that photo at all. I haven’t given it too much thought, I haven’t seen a lot on social media even though everyone tells me it’s gone off. There’s nothing in that,” Marsh added.
Marsh has returned to Australia, but some of his teammates remain in India to compete in the five-match T20I series. Marsh expressed disappointment that the ongoing series has disrupted their post-World Cup celebrations.
“Yeah it was pretty outrageous for the guys that had to stay behind. It’s a fine line because we’ve got to respect the fact we’re playing for Australia and it’s a series against India which is always really big," he said.
“But there’s also the human side of it, the boys have just won a World Cup and probably deserve to celebrate for a while and get home to their families. It’s an interesting one. You’d hope there’s not too many of those series put on after big tournaments again,” the 32-year-old further added.
Six Australian players, Steve Smith, Adam Zampa, Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Josh Inglis, and Sean Abbott, stayed back in India to participate in the first three matches of the five-match T20I series against India. Following the third match, they returned home to Australia.
“I celebrated for the six guys who stayed behind, I celebrated for them,” Marsh concluded.
Talking about the ongoing five-match T20I outing between the two teams, India are leading the series 2-1. The fourth T20I between India and Australia is scheduled to be played in Raipur on December 1, Friday.
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