'TV smashing case is over-hyped'

Australia captain Ricky Ponting says reports that he smashed a television with his bat in frustration over his World Cup run out against Zimbabwe were greatly exaggerated.

Australia captain Ricky Ponting says reports that he smashed a television with his bat in frustration over his World Cup run out against Zimbabwe were greatly exaggerated. ICC has reprimanded Ponting over the incident but the batsman says he did not mean to do any damage.

HT Image

Ponting acknowledges that a reprimand is appropriate but says the television sustained only minor damage when it "was hit by my box that I'd thrown down."

Ponting says he reported the damage immediately and that the television was replaced. Ponting added that, "some of the stories I have been hearing the last couple of days have been a little bit different to what the list of events actually were. There's a limit I guess (to how much) you can let off steam in a dressing room. It is a pretty sacred sort of place in international cricket. But there's a line you can't overstep and when some equipment is damaged in a changing room, as I said, I accept the responsibility for that happening the other day."