'There's Nothing In That' - Mitchell Marsh Reacts To Viral Picture Of Feet On World Cup Trophy

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Australia all-rounder Mitchell Marsh has finally reacted to the viral picture of the World Cup trophy under his feet which was met with a lot of criticism by fans and fellow cricketers.

Last month, Australia rode on Travis Head's 137 to beat an unbeaten Indian side by 6 wickets in the ICC World Cup 2023 final at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.

Following their sixth World Cup triumph, pictures and clips of celebration were seen across social media platform. And among them, Marsh's pic of his feet on the World Cup trophy proved controversial.

Many fans took to social media to criticize Marsh, while Indian pacer Mohammed Shami also hit out at the Australian for the act, and a police complaint also was lodged by a leader of an activist group.

Shami, the top wicket-taker of the tournament, said that he was "hurt" after seeing the picture of Marsh's feet on the World Cup trophy.

"This hurt me a lot as well. All countries fight for this trophy, everyone wants to lift the trophy over their head. And I didn't like that he rested his foot on that trophy. He should not be doing that," said Shami during an interaction with media persons.

However, the all-rounder finally broke his silence on the matter and said that he did not mean any disrespect to anyone with the pose, stating "there is nothing in that".

"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 was quoted as saying to SEN.

Marsh, who flew back home after the World Cup final, also said it was not fair to have a series lined up just after a big tournament as six of his title-winning teammates had to stay behind for the five-match T20I series vs India and wait to celebrate their triumph.

"Yeah it was pretty outrageous for the guys that had to stay behind. 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," Marsh added.

"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."

While most of the players, including Marsh flew back after the World Cup win, the likes of Head, Glenn Maxwell, Josh Inglis, Sean Abbott, Marcus Stoinis and Steve Smith stayed back in India for the T20Is. They, however, have now travelled back home.

The all-rounder hopes that there won't be any more series like this lined up after a big tournament like the World Cup in the future and added that he celebrated for his six teammates.

"It's an interesting one. You'd hope there's not too many of those series put on after big tournaments again. I celebrated for the six guys who stayed behind, I celebrated for them," Marsh said.