N. Srinivasan: World Cricket's Clown of the Month, March 2015

Australia and New Zealand provided plenty of memorable moments during the Cricket World Cup final.

Mitchell Starc castled New Zealand skipper Brendon McCullum for a duck with the fifth ball of the match.

There was also the time Australia wicketkeeper Brad Haddin took a stunning diving catch to dismiss Ross Taylor, the first of two wickets in the same James Faulkner over.

Glenn Maxwell produced a superb piece of fielding at short mid-wicket, too, turning to the bowler’s end and throwing down the stumps to see Tim Southee run out, ending New Zealand’s innings at 183.

Andy Brownbill/Associated Press

In Australia’s successful run chase, skipper Michael Clarke took seamer Southee for four successive fours in one over.

Steve Smith was the player who got the opportunity to hit the winning runs, a pulled four sealing an emphatic seven-wicket win for the hosts in Melbourne.

However, there was also a significant moment after the game had finished.

During the post-match presentation, master of ceremonies Mark Nicholas read out the names of the dignitaries who were present on the field to hand out the plethora of awards.

When N. Srinivasan (The N stands for Narayanaswami, by the way) was introduced, those who had stuck around inside the MCG let the ICC chairman know their opinion of him.

A chorus of boos followed the announcement of Srinivasan’s name, though the jeers turned to cheers when Nicholas quickly announced the presence of Sachin Tendulkar in the presentation party.

Those unable to be there to boo in person instead used Twitter to air their opinions of Srinivasan's presence. Here are a selection of the many, many tweets posted:

"

93,000 people just booed Srinivasan and cheered Tendulkar. I love you, cricket!

— Alt Cricket (@AltCricket) March 29, 2015"

The thing is, Srinivasan should not have even been in that situation to be booed in the first place.

Ashim Sunam in the International Business Times confirmed that ICC president Mustafa Kamal should have been the man to hand over the trophy to Clarke.

Instead the chairman decided to perform the task, despite it being against the governing body's constitution. According to Mohammad Isam of ESPN Cricinfo, Kamal was not amused at being snubbed.

Srinivasan had hardly endeared himself to cricket supporters either when he revealed in an interview with Star Sports (h/t The Hindu) days before the final that he stood by the ICC’s plans to cut the next World Cup from 14 to 10 teams.

The announcement was a major blow for the Associate nations; they could now miss out on their chance to dine, albeit briefly, at the top table.

A petition to allow cricket fans from around the world to show their disapproval at the idea of a 10-team competition was set up. It was not lacking in signatures and has now been sent on to the ICC.

Even Tendulkar, the man who was standing next to Srinivasan during the ceremony at the final, spoke out against the decision, per Melinda Farrell of ESPN Cricinfo.

At the World Cup final, the former BCCI president (he was not allowed to contest the elections for that role earlier this year due to his involvement with IPL franchise Chennai Super Kings) felt the backlash of the crowd.

It is not his decision and his decision alone to change the future structure of the World Cup, but he put himself in the firing line by opting to be the one to step out onto the MCG grass.

On Sunday, he was less the chairman of the ICC and more the pantomime villain. Perhaps as expected for a man connected with a company called India Cements Limited, he was stony-faced in his response.

To be booed at your own party is quite an achievement. For that reason alone, he deserves to be named world cricket’s clown of the month.