CA to investigate Pawar shoving

Gavaskar adds a new twist to the controversy by disclosing that the BCCI chief was addressed as "hiya buddy".

Cricket Australia on Tuesday promised a probe into the nudging of Sharad Pawar by its players whose conduct was deplored by Sunil Gavaskar who disclosed that the BCCI President was addressed as "hiya buddy" by one of the team members.

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Cricket Australia said it would go through the footage of the incident to find out what happened exactly during the presentation ceremony of the Champions Trophy in Mumbai on Sunday night.

"The players have only just arrived back in Australia and over the course of the next few days we will be finding out what, if anything, did or did not happen," CA Spokesman Peter Young said.

Young said the players were understandably very thrilled to have won the mini World Cup for the first time but stopped short of citing it as an excuse.

"I do know the Australian players were very excited to win the trophy. It is a bit of a holy grail because it was the only trophy in world cricket they had not won," he was quoted as saying by 'The Age'.

Although Pawar himself sought to downplay the incident, it continued to evoke strong criticism from former cricketers and politicians.

Pawar, also the Union Agriculture Minister and President of Nationalist Congress Party, said the issue was being blown out of proportion.

"I do not think it is an issue. I was not insulted or embarassed," Pawar said.

"It is true that all the Australian players had crowded the stage and that I felt a jolt but that was not intentional. I have seen the footage myself. I feel such a small issue should not be hyped this much," Pawar said.

Gavaskar, however, added new twist to the controversy by disclosing that one of the players had addressed Pawar as "hiya buddy".

"I am not amused by one of the Australian players who said 'hiya buddy' when he went up to receive his medallion from Mr. Pawar," said the legendary batsman who was also present on the stage.

"Just receive it quietly. You are not in your country. In India, we respect our elders. Certain decorum has to be maintained, you have to show respect. Would they have done such a thing to their prime minister?" he was quoted as saying in a Mumbai eveninger.

"Australia waited all these years to win the Champions Trophy. Surely, they could have waited for Pawar to be escorted by the lady from the ICC rather than nudge him away," he told 'Mid-Day'.

Former cricketer Yashpal Sharma said BCCI should lodge a complaint with ICC, the game's world governing body.

"I think that this should be made an issue because it is not an issue concerning a person but the entire nation. Sharad Pawar is a reputed person not only as a leader but also as a good human being," he said.

"I think the entire country should unite on the issue and we should lodge a written complain to ICC because it is not a small issue."

Former Indian skipper Mohammed Azharuddin also slammed the Australian team, terming its behaviour "uncivilised".

"No guest would abuse the hospitality in the manner the Australians did the other night at the end of the Champions Trophy. It should completely embarrass the Australian cricket public and their board," the former batsman said.

Azhar, fighting to have his life ban from the game lifted, said Pawar had shown magnanimity in downplaying the incident but the world champions deserved a rap on the knuckles for their behaviour.

"It is magnanimous on the part of Pawar to have underplayed the incident. He showed a lot of civility which unfortunately can't be said about the world champions."

The country's top politicans also joined the cricketers in condemning the incident.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh criticised the behaviour of the Aussies towards Pawar.

"Whatever I saw on television was not a good thing. He (Pawar) is a great leader and the BCCI President. They did not show proper behaviour to him while he was handing over the Trophy. This is very bad," Deshmukh said.