Admitting his gesture of ignoring the outstretched hand of Pakistan captain Sarfraz Ahmed after the tri-series final at Harare was not in the spirit of the game, Australian all-rounder Glenn Maxwell explained that it was not intentional on his part.
Maxwell found himself in the middle of a social media storm after the all-rounder was caught ignoring a handshake from Sarfraz after Pakistan’s victory. The video surfaced on social media showed Maxwell allegedly bypassing Sarfraz and shaking hands with teammate Jhye Richardson before the Pakistan captain walked off the field to complete their victory celebrations.
Maxwell took to twitter to clarify his stand on the incident and even shared his thoughts of wanting to complete the unfinished shake of hands with the Pakistan captain if he is able to find him in the team hotel.
"In regards to the incident shown post-match, it appears unsportsmanlike, and certainly not the way I play the game. It was a genuine oversight on my behalf and I'm currently looking for Sarfraz in the hotel to shake his hand and congratulate him and his team for their series win #wellplayed," Maxwell tweeted.
Taking the defeat on his stride, Maxwell congratulated Pakistan for their stunning triumph.
"Congrats to Pakistan on their win yesterday, Fakhar Zaman and Shoaib Malik were unstoppable! Sad note to end our tour of Zimbabwe, but still plenty of positives to take out of it," he wrote.
Maxwell and Sarfraz had their fair share of banters throughout the final at Harare and as per reports the war of words continued even after the match was ended.
The Australian team’s behaviour has been under scrutiny ever since the ball-tampering incident that barred Steve Smith David Warner and Cameron Bancroft from representing Australia for 12 months (9 months in Bancroft’s case), came to light in March earlier this year.