"No disrespect meant in that photo at all" - Mitchell Marsh defends his viral 'feet on World Cup Trophy' photo

Australian all-rounder Mitchell Marsh has defended putting his feet on top of the World Cup trophy, stating he meant no disrespect with his actions.

Following Australia's thumping win over hosts India in the 2023 World Cup final, Marsh's "feet on the World Cup Trophy" photo went viral. It caused quite a stir across the world, and Indian pacer Mohammed Shami publicly expressed his disappointment too.

Marsh has now offered his response to the outrage in a conversation with SEN. He said:

"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."

The Western Australia-born cricketer added he would do the same thing if given another chance.

Despite not contributing much in the semi-final and final, Mitchell Marsh had an excellent tournament. He scored 441 runs in 10 games at an average of 49 and a strike rate of 107.56, with two centuries and a half-century.

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"Pretty outrageous for the guys that had to stay behind" - Mitchell Marsh

The T20I series began just four days after the World Cup final.

Mitchell Marsh further condemned the scheduling of the India-Australia five-match T20I series, which began only four days after the 2023 World Cup final. While Marsh was among the players who left India after the mega event, six cricketers from the World Cup-winning squad were initially part of the side for the India series.

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

"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," he added.

The six members of the World Cup squad - Steve Smith, Adam Zampa, Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Josh Inglis, and Sean Abbott - have finally flown home.

Australia currently trail 2-1 in the five-match T20I affair. Following losses in the opening two games, the Aussies were kept alive in the series thanks to Glenn Maxwell's incredible century in the third match.

The battle resumes with the action shifting to Raipur for the fourth T20I on Friday, December 1.