Published: Mar 30, 2015, 02:15 PM (IST)
Edited: Mar 30, 2015, 02:15 PM (IST)
Sydney: New Zealand skipper Brendon McCullum has played down the sledging leveled against his teammates by Australia during the just-concluded ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 final in Melbourne.
Australia lifted their fifth World Cup title following their seven-wicket win over New Zealand on Sunday, however, the sledging left a blemish in their celebrations. Sledger-in-chief Brad Haddin was seen giving a few words to Martin Guptill after Glenn Maxwell dismissed the New Zealand opener for 15. Haddin was again caught engaging in a verbal exchange after Grant Elliott, the top scorer for New Zealand, was dismissed for 83.
McCullum, who led New Zealand to their first ever World Cup final, said that the focus should be on how well Australia played and how much they deserved the victory, rather than minor issues on the way through, News.com.au reported.
The explosive batsman further said that he certainly didn’t want to go too deep into that, insisting that a send off is a send off and it was not something they are necessarily concerned about.
Meanwhile, Australia’s retiring skipper Michael Clarke pleaded ignorance, stating that he couldn’t remember a player getting a send-off. Clarke said that it was because maybe he was too far from the action, adding that there is passion; excitement; adrenalin running through the guys’ bodies in the World Cup final.
