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| November 09, 2006 | Thursday | Shawwal 16, 1427 |
Ricky Ponting prepared to apologise for Pawar slight
SYDNEY, Nov 8: Australian skipper Ricky Ponting on Wednesday said he was prepared to apologize for his team's behaviour at this week's Champions Trophy presentation at Mumbai if India's cricket board believes one is warranted.
Ponting told a Sydney news conference he would contact the Indian board to discuss the incident in which board president Sharad Pawar appeared to be pushed from the presentation stage Monday by Australian players.
Indian newspapers expressed outrage at the incident and published photographs which appeared to show Australian batsman Damien Martyn pushing Pawar aside as Australia celebrated its trophy victory.
“I'm a bit disappointed some of the gloss has been taken off (Australia's first Champions Trophy win) but I'll be doing the best I can to get to the concerned people in India to get my point across and let them know we weren't trying to embarrass them,” Ponting said.
“We were all pretty keen to get our hands on the trophy and celebrate so I'll be making an effort today.”
Ponting said the Australian team had not intended to cause offense to its hosts.
“We were all pretty keen to get the photo taken and get off the stage and enjoy the moment for what it was,'' he said. “If there needs to be anything done from the Australian cricket team's side, I'm more than happy to do that and hopefully it can be forgotten about and we can move on.”—AP
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