Award Ceremony Controversy
During the Award ceremony after the finals, Ricky Ponting tapped the shoulders of BCCI President Sharad Pawar and gestured him to handover the trophy. Soon after the trophy was handed over, Damien Martyn nudged Sharad Pawar off the stage eager to relish the moment and to pose for the waiting photographers. Former Indian batsman Sunil Gavaskar who was also present in the stage, later disclosed that one of the Australian team members referred to Pawar as "Hiya Buddy".
Although Pawar tried to play down the incident by stating that "it wasn't intentional", some cricketers including the usually diplomatic Sachin Tendulkar and Nikhil Chopra reacted strongly to this. In Mumbai, a section of NCP workers took to the streets demanding an apology from the Australian cricket team. Chaggan Bhujbal, a NCP leader said "This is an insult to a senior leader. We will make a formal complaint to the Australian embassy."
The BCCI, however, decided not to officially complain to Cricket Australia. However, the issue soon got resolved when Ricky Ponting tended his apology to Pawar.
Read more about this topic: 2006 ICC Champions Trophy, Off The Field Issues
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