"Felt like that lasted for about 10 minutes" - Glenn Maxwell recalls awkward moment after PM Narendra Modi handed World Cup trophy to Pat Cummins
Star Australian all-rounder Glenn Maxwell has recalled how Pat Cummins stood awkwardly on the stage after receiving the World Cup trophy from Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Ahmedabad. Maxwell called the incident 'funny,' joking that it seemed to last 10 minutes.
After Indian PM Modi and Australia's deputy PM Richard Marles handed the trophy to Cummins, they went off stage to congratulate his teammates. As a result, the 30-year-old was left standing alone on the stage, waiting for his teammates to join him to lift the elusive trophy. Cummins standing alone on the stage even became a meme on social media.
Speaking to the Sydney Morning Herald, Maxwell lauded the Aussie skipper for handling the awkward situation "with class."
"It was quite funny watching the videos of the post-match presentation where he shook Modi’s hand and was stuck there on the podium," he said. "It felt like that lasted for about 10 minutes, him just standing there with the trophy waiting for the group to come on. But he actually dealt with it with class. He didn’t make a big song and dance about it, [he] just thought ‘you know what, I’ll wait here, be respectful.’ Not everyone would’ve dealt with that like he did."
Cummins was outstanding in the 2023 World Cup final, where Australia beat India in front of a record crowd in Ahmedabad. The 30-year-old didn't concede a single boundary in his 10-over spell and took the vital wickets of Virat Kohli and Shreyas Iyer.
"I’ll forever be grateful for things he sacrificed" - Glenn Maxwell on Pat Cummins
Maxwell also paid tribute to the right-arm speedster for hanging around for 68 deliveries during his double century against Afghanistan, eschewing his customary aggressive approach.
"That’s not the way Pat normally bats," Maxwell said. "He wants to play free-flowing, he wants to hit the ball, he’s got a great swing, and he’s able to do that at different times. But for him to put his ego aside and go ‘I’m going to stick this out’, I’ll forever be grateful for things he sacrificed during the tournament and everything he’s done for us as a playing group, and me personally as well."
The 35-year-old also credited Cummins for his motivational words and positive mindset.
"I remember very specifically him saying that you don’t just get given the World Cup," Maxwell continued. "You’ve got to go out and win it. That stuck with me – no one deserves to win the World Cup, it’s not yours to retain or yours to lose. You’ve got to go out and win it, and I think that helped with a positive mindset."
Cummins has joined Allan Border, Steve Waugh, Ricky Ponting, and Michael Clarke as Australia's World Cup-winning captains.