Too much ado about the Pawar push
Published by Sameer on Wednesday, November 08, 2006.
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Did Damien Martyn push/shove BCCI president Sharad Pawar? Is the Indian media (and subsequently politicians, ex-cricketers and the public) justified in raising hue and cry over the incident? Does this require a formal probe by Cricket Australia so that the "guilty" can be "brought to justice" or even an apology?
Of course not!!
What Damien Martyn did was just a reaction of a jubilant player eager to lay his hands on a trophy that had eluded his team up until that moment. He simply seemed to usher Sharad Pawar to one side so he could join his teammates in holding the Champions Trophy aloft. There was nothing insulting in that gesture or at least there was nothing in the pictures that made me project nefarious intentions onto Martyn's actions. So the media hue and cry is nothing but a tactic to fill up airtime. As far as the politicians are concerned, I don't blame them for using this "incident" to display their nationalistic fervour. But I am surprised and concerned that players including the normally reticent Tendulkar have chosen to comment on this as though the Australian team has committed a grave crime! It just goes to fortify the thought that there is a definite Asian-nonAsian divide emerging in world cricket. And that's really unfortunate!
Having said that, I must confess that Ricky Ponting's gesture, asking Pawar to hand over the trophy, was quite rude and cannot be put down to enthusiasm or over-exuberance of victory. Of course, I don't demand a probe or an apology for it. I reckon it's a cultural thing and no amount of disciplining and/or apologies is gonna change it in a hurry! The only thing worth doing is to dish it out to the Aussies in the same coin... on the field!!
Of course not!!
What Damien Martyn did was just a reaction of a jubilant player eager to lay his hands on a trophy that had eluded his team up until that moment. He simply seemed to usher Sharad Pawar to one side so he could join his teammates in holding the Champions Trophy aloft. There was nothing insulting in that gesture or at least there was nothing in the pictures that made me project nefarious intentions onto Martyn's actions. So the media hue and cry is nothing but a tactic to fill up airtime. As far as the politicians are concerned, I don't blame them for using this "incident" to display their nationalistic fervour. But I am surprised and concerned that players including the normally reticent Tendulkar have chosen to comment on this as though the Australian team has committed a grave crime! It just goes to fortify the thought that there is a definite Asian-nonAsian divide emerging in world cricket. And that's really unfortunate!
Having said that, I must confess that Ricky Ponting's gesture, asking Pawar to hand over the trophy, was quite rude and cannot be put down to enthusiasm or over-exuberance of victory. Of course, I don't demand a probe or an apology for it. I reckon it's a cultural thing and no amount of disciplining and/or apologies is gonna change it in a hurry! The only thing worth doing is to dish it out to the Aussies in the same coin... on the field!!
Do not agree with your comments. You cannot push people from the stage just because you are very jubilient about winning a trophy.
In a tit for tat situation is it ok to push the queen of after you have won Wimbledon trophy.
anonymous>> of course, one can't push someone from the stage. but what damien martyn did was anything but push sharad pawar. surely to interprete that as a push, one has to have a remarkably low threshold of tolerance!