Ponting to Apologize

Media pressure and the criticism worldwide (including Australia) forced Ricky Ponting to break silence and offer to apologize to Mr. Sharad Pawar for Australian cricket team's objectionable gesture. We hope that Ponting learned a lesson from this episode and in future he and his team will show good etiquette while dealing with people.

Arrogant Aussies

There is little doubt that Australia is the Champion of world cricket and no country can challenge its supremacy. However, the Australians are not at their best when it comes to politeness and humility. Success and fame made the Australian cricketers arrogant and rude, which is clearly visible from the incident occurred during the prize distribution ceremony of the ICC Champions Trophy final.

In a shocking gesture, Australian captain Ricky Ponting waved his fingers at BCCI president Sharad Pawar, asking him to come to him and hand over the winner's trophy. Pawar gave a smile and asked Ponting to come forward to receive the trophy, which is customary. The issue did not end there. After receiving the trophy, Ponting and his teammates pushed Pawar out of the stage, which sent a shockwave across the cricketing world.

Now the question is whether the action was accidental or deliberate. Even if the insult and disrespect shown to Pawar are not intentional, the Australians cannot be forgiven. They should immediately apologize to Pawar and more importantly to their fans, who celebrated with crackers and drum beating at Australian victory. However, it is most likely that the Australians deliberately insulted Pawar to avenge the removal of Darrel Hair from the Umpires' elite panel. Cricketers including Anshuman Gaekword, Kiran More and Sachin Tendulkar have condemned the rude behavior of the Australian cricketers in hard terms. Now it's time for the BCCI to fight for its dignity and take the matter with the ICC and Cricket Australia. The haughty Australians must be brought down to earth. Otherwise, there will be no let up in such incidents.