'There was obviously no disrespect' - Mitchell Marsh on 'feet on trophy' photo

Mitch Marsh has clarified that his celebration, which caused controversy in India, was not intended to be disrespectful. After the World Cup victory, Marsh was photographed with his feet on the prestigious trophy.

Indian fast bowler Mohammed Shami also expressed his feelings and said that he was hurt by the photo. The 32-year-old all-rounder quickly became a focal point of public criticism in India as disappointed fans reacted to the unexpected World Cup loss.

In his initial public response to SEN on Friday, Marsh addressed the situation. When asked if he would repeat the gesture, he replied, "Yeah probably, to be honest. 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.”

Marsh scored 441 runs during the tournament and contributed 15 in the final match. Returning to Australia a few days later to continue celebrations, six of his teammates, who were members of the World Cup-winning team, remained in India. With a five-match T20I series against India starting just four days after the World Cup triumph, those staying in the subcontinent had their celebrations curtailed.

Expressing his perspective, Marsh hopes for common sense to prevail and for a similar series to be reconsidered in the future. Marsh emphasized the deserving celebration for the World Cup-winning team and their need to reunite with their families.

“It’s a fine line because 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. It’s an interesting one. You’d hope there’s not too many of those series put on after big tournaments again.”

Reflecting on the post-World Cup scenario, Marsh humorously remarked, “I celebrated for the six guys who stayed behind, I celebrated for them.” Notably, Steve Smith, Adam Zampa, Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Josh Inglis, and Sean Abbott have since returned home, with Australia trailing 2-1 midway through the T20I series.