New Delhi: Mind games have begun more than 24 hours ahead of the World Cup final in Barbados as Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene ruffled Australia's feathers by turning up late for a photo-op with captain Ricky Ponting.
The Australian skipper was visibly upset with Jayawardene's unkind gesture of turning up an hour late for the shoot at a beach in Barbados, Australian daily The Age said on Friday.
The Australian team had to rush in to Barbados particularly for the shoot from St Lucia, where they played their semi-final game against South Africa, beating them by seven wickets. Jayawardene, however, took his own time to come after attending a golf function.
"Bit late are you?" the report quoted Ponting as saying to Jayawardene.
"I did not know about this, seriously," was Jayawardene's retort, as he shifted the blame on a traffic jam in Bridgetown.
A local media report claimed that Ponting was not very happy after the incident.
"Given the amount of travel that had taken place, for the Australian captain to be left waiting for an hour with 100s of media persons lining up on the beach and the sun going down was very unfortunate," an Australian team source remarked.
The incident evokes memories of former India captain Sourav Ganguly's ploy to keep then Australia captain Steve Waugh waiting at the toss during Australia's tour of India in 2001. The incident even finds a mention in Waugh's autobiography, the former skipper citing it as a bitter experience.
1996 World Cup winners Sri Lanka and the reigning world champions have been locked in some fierce battles on the field, and things only worsened after ace off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan was called for chucking by Australian umpire Darrell Hair in 1995.
Australia were also irked by Sri Lanka's decision to rest all three of their striked bowlers Muralitharan, Chaminda Vaas and Lasith Malinga during their game in the Super Eights earlier in the tournament
The Australian skipper was visibly upset with Jayawardene's unkind gesture of turning up an hour late for the shoot at a beach in Barbados, Australian daily The Age said on Friday.
The Australian team had to rush in to Barbados particularly for the shoot from St Lucia, where they played their semi-final game against South Africa, beating them by seven wickets. Jayawardene, however, took his own time to come after attending a golf function.
"Bit late are you?" the report quoted Ponting as saying to Jayawardene.
"I did not know about this, seriously," was Jayawardene's retort, as he shifted the blame on a traffic jam in Bridgetown.
A local media report claimed that Ponting was not very happy after the incident.
"Given the amount of travel that had taken place, for the Australian captain to be left waiting for an hour with 100s of media persons lining up on the beach and the sun going down was very unfortunate," an Australian team source remarked.
The incident evokes memories of former India captain Sourav Ganguly's ploy to keep then Australia captain Steve Waugh waiting at the toss during Australia's tour of India in 2001. The incident even finds a mention in Waugh's autobiography, the former skipper citing it as a bitter experience.
1996 World Cup winners Sri Lanka and the reigning world champions have been locked in some fierce battles on the field, and things only worsened after ace off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan was called for chucking by Australian umpire Darrell Hair in 1995.
Australia were also irked by Sri Lanka's decision to rest all three of their striked bowlers Muralitharan, Chaminda Vaas and Lasith Malinga during their game in the Super Eights earlier in the tournament
