Hey Mite! Where are your manners?

I have always been an Australian cricket fan and no, this has got nothing to do with my very-long stay Down Under.

The Australian Cricket Team is not only a perfect example of courage but also stand very tall when it comes to concepts like team spirit, strength and attitude. They actually do give meaning to phrases like “Never say die” when they are on the field and no matter in what situation.

I admired them regardless of the fact that they have thrashed our Indian team a million times and who could forget the nightmarish 2003 ICC World Cup Finals. I appreciated Ponting and his boys despite their many non-sporting behavior and at times overly inflated egos.

What’s up with the Australian attitude?

Agree they are the World Champions and most definitely deserve to be entitled so but hey! Aussies some things are simply not tolerable, just like this one.

Australian captain Ricky Ponting and his teammates’ behavior during the prize distribution ceremony after the ICC Champions Trophy final against the West Indies at the Brabourne Stadium on Sunday clearly displayed how they wore their buffed-up egoistic temperament on their sleeves.

Mid-Day Reports:

Ricky Ponting’s inexcusable boorish behavior at the Champions Trophy awards ceremony at the Brabourne Stadium last Sunday has created a situation fraught with serious repercussions as regards not only cricketing, but also political, relations between the two countries.

The kerfuffle that the totally avoidable incident has caused calls for tactful handling by Cricket Australia and, possibly, the Australian government to assuage wounded national pride in our country.

As stated by Sunil Gavaskar: “In India, we are brought up to respect our elders.”

The legend was referring to the incident triggered by a snafu by emcee Rameez Raja, which prompted Pawar to ask Ricky Ponting to step forward for the presentation, that, in turn, led to the Australian captain ‘nudging’ the minister before joining his team-mates in celebration and a group photograph.

Even after due allowance is made for the informality of Australian culture, its in-your-face humor and the fact that politicians figure almost at the bottom of the scale in terms of public perception in that country, Ponting was, nevertheless, hurtfully disrespectful to a foreign dignitary, who is, also, his elder by far in years.

His behaviour was boorish and insensitive as regards values in our country.

Many others are no happy with Australian captain’s attitude.

Sachin Tendulkar, the epitome of grace and good manners, too, has rightly slammed the Australian cricket team for ‘nudging’ Union minister and BCCI president Sharad Pawar.

Replying to a specific query, Tendulkar said: “I wasn’t watching the proceedings because I was travelling, but from what I heard, it was an unpleasant incident and was uncalled for.

“Firstly,” said Tendulkar, “it should not have happened. It’s important to show respect to the person who is so dear to the cricketers and is involved with cricket. So it’s good that we avoid such incidents.”

An apology is a must.

Former Test wicket-keeper and ex-chairman of the national selection committee, Kiran More has called for an apology from the Australian skipper to the BCCI and to Pawar.

Yes, I stand by Mr. More’s statement that an apology on behalf of the Australian team should be given and should be done so at the earliest. Afterall the Aussies were welcomed here as guests of the nation and should have appropriately behaved as guests.

To put things simply – ones needs to follow the rules of the land and not mock it.

Here is the video, decide for yourself.