Mitchell Marsh breaks silence on controversial World Cup trophy photo

Australia all-rounder Mitchell Marsh has finally broken his silence on the criticism he faced for resting his feet on the World Cup trophy.

Australia defeated India in the World Cup final by six wickets to lift the trophy for a record-extending sixth time. In the final, Marsh contributed just 15 runs before being dismissed by Jasprit Bumrah. Travis Head then stepped up with an impressive 137-run knock and guided Australia to a memorable World Cup triumph with seven overs to spare.

Following the summit clash, pictures from Australia’s title celebrations started circulating widely on social media. In one such photo, Marsh was seen in a joyous mood with his feet on the prized trophy.

Responding to the criticism and the controversy, Marsh told SEN, “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.”

India seamer Mohammed Shami was one to express “hurt” with Marsh’s gesture. Shami, who took tournament-leading 24 wickets, said, “The trophy for which all the teams in the world fight, the trophy which you want to lift over your head, keeping a foot on that trophy did not make me happy.”

After the World Cup win, Marsh was rested from Australia’s subsequent T20I series against India. However, several members of the World Cup-winning team, including Steve Smith, Travis Head, Glenn Maxwell, and Adam Zampa, continued to feature in the T20I series, something which Marsh believes would be taxing.

“We’ve got to respect the fact we’re playing for Australia, and it’s a series against India which is always really big. 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,” the Aussie all-rounder added.

Despite his brilliance with the white-ball team, Marsh is expected to face competition from Cameron Green, who may very well make a return to Test cricket after being excluded from the Ashes. However, Marsh is not too worried and believes these challenges are part of the game.

After the conclusion of the T20I series against India, the World Champions will feature in a three-match Test series against Pakistan.