Ricky Ponting and his team got into a controversy minutes after winning the 2006 Champions Trophy.
The who’s who of Indian cricket administration have featured seasoned politicians, but Sharad Pawar stands out even among them. Elected chief minister of Maharashtra on four separate stints, Pawar also served in the Union Council of Ministers under two prime ministers.
The son-in-law of former Test cricketer Sadashiv “Sadu” Shinde, Pawar served as the BCCI president between 2005 and 2008, and the ICC president between 2010 and 2012. The incident took place during the former phase.
Two years ago, with the election deadlocked at 15-15, outgoing BCCI president Jagmohan Dalmiya had used his casting vote to elect Ranbir Mahendra ahead of Pawar. The elaborate details of how Pawar managed to bounce back within a year to become BCCI president is beyond the scope of these pages. However, it will not be an exaggeration to call him the most powerful man in Indian cricket at this point. Lalit Modi, the new vice-president, would go from strength to strength over this period.
“A financial burden”
It had flooded ahead of the first edition of the 1998 Champions Trophy in Bangladesh. In Kenya 2000, it was drought. In Sri Lanka 2002, rain hit the final and its replay. England 2004 was a story of ICC mismanagement. And in 2006, it was the BCCI.
Nearly two decades later, it seems almost unbelievable that India did not want to host an ICC event. However, the BCCI were keen on creating its own FTP, with a focus to “maximise their potential income from major series against England and Australia”. The Champions Trophy did not fit into these plans. According to an ESPNcricinfo report, “the new governing regime that has taken over in India are keen to extract every last dollar out of the earning potential of the side”.
Things were indeed changing. The Champions Trophy had been Dalmiya’s initiative during his stint as ICC president. True to his vision of expanding the sport, the first two editions had been held in Associate Nations.
Lalit Modi did assure that there was “no threat to the ICC Trophy”. However, later that week, another report emerged, claiming that the BCCI wanted the Champions Trophy to be scrapped because it “dilutes the importance of the four-yearly World Cup and causes huge financial losses to the host country ... Since the ICC takes away a major part of the revenue, the tournament is a financial burden on the country which hosts it.”
A BCCI official elaborated on the reluctance: “We have been forced to put aside 30-35 days in the prime months of October and November for the Champions Trophy. We could have utilised the period to organise a Test and one-day series which would have gained us almost 70 to 80 million dollars. I think the ICC should organise just one main event, the World Cup, in an already overcrowded calendar.”
The Champions Trophy did go ahead in the end. In April 2006, Pawar even assured that the BCCI “were looking forward to work in partnership with ICC to deliver an exceptional tournament”. The July 2006 bombings in Mumbai, one of the host cities – at least two hundred were killed – posed another threat, but none of the participants decided to opt out.
The 2008 edition of the jinxed tournament (is it unfair to call it that?) would be moved out of Pakistan. The tournament would then be scrapped, but brought back – first in 2013, then in 2017, then in 2025. It keeps bouncing back. It is unlikely that India, potential hosts in 2029, will consider it a “financial burden”.
There were other controversies in 2006, including Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Asif being sent home after testing positive for nandrolone, but the one that cause the biggest uproar came on the last day of the tournament.
The cricket
There was a preliminary round, where Sri Lanka and defending champions West Indies knocked out Bangladesh and Zimbabwe with considerable ease. The round culminated in Farveez Maharoof taking 6-14, still the best figures in the tournament, to skittle out the West Indies for 80.
India began their tournament with an easy win over England, but did not look the same when they played their next game 11 days later. Two bad days led to their elimination. During this phase, the West Indies turned things around in remarkable fashion, defeating Australia by 10 runs after Jerome Taylor completed the first ODI hat-trick in the tournament.
However, both teams went through, and were joined by South Africa and New Zealand in the semi-finals. When they met Australia again, in the final, Shivnarine Chanderpaul (27 in 18 balls) and Chris Gayle (37 in 27) threatened to take the game away in the powerplay overs. After five overs, the West Indies were 49-0.
Less than 26 overs later, they were bowled out for 138. Australia cantered home with eight wickets and nearly 22 overs in hand. It could have been a closer game, but there was nothing unusual about the day’s proceedings – yet.
“A nice Aussie sledge, like a nudge”
As is norm, Pawar himself appeared on the podium to hand over the medallions and the trophy to the champions. While collecting his medal, Ponting greeted Pawar as “hiya buddy”.
“Just receive it quietly. You are not in your country. In India, we respect our elders,” described Sunil Gavaskar, who was on the podium as well. “Certain decorum has to be maintained, you have to show respect. Would they have done such a thing to their prime minister?”
Cultural difference, perhaps – and anyway, Ponting’s greetings went largely unreported. What followed, on the other hand, hit the roof.
Ponting gestured at Pawar with his forefinger, asking him to hand over the trophy. Once Pawar did that, Damien Martyn nudged him on the shoulder, presumably asking him to leave the stage. “Brad Hogg asked [Pawar to get off] nicely, Ricky Ponting did the same, so I just gave him a nice little Aussie sledge, like a nudge. I didn’t think nothing of it,” Martyn admitted years later.
The next morning, the photographs – especially Martyn’s – was all over the Indian newspapers. A group of fans in Mumbai posed with a picture of a donkey donning Australian colours with the words “Damien Martyn” sprawled across it. One of the fans wore a bandana with the words “Ricky Ponting haay haay” (down with Ricky Ponting).
This Is How Champions Behave When They Get The Trophy, ran the headline in the Indian Express. “They are supposed to be aggressive, even rude on the field,” reported The Times of India. “On Sunday, Australia showed they are not exactly polite off it too.”
“You expect such behaviour from uneducated people,” commented former captain and chair of selectors Dilip Vengsarkar. “If they wanted to pose for photographs, they could have politely requested him”. Sachin Tendulkar maintained that “such incidents should be avoided”.
“If we all feel that it’s relevant then I’ll certainly do that [apologise],” assured Ponting as the matter escalated. “I didn’t mean to offend him and I apologise if I did so,” added Martyn.
Given Pawar’s stature, the matter escalated beyond cricket. Chhagan Bhujbal, a minister in the government, threatened to “write to the International Cricket Council”.
Pawar himself brushed off the incident as “a small thing, a stupid thing” and abstained from reactions. Two days later, however, he called the Australians “totally uncivilised”, adding “I have decided to play it down because we have an extremely good relationship with the Australian board and we would like for that to keep going”.
Ponting apologised to Pawar the next day. It was accepted, and all was well.
