“I shouldn’t have engaged him and should have went to the other side to my fielding position, but I didn’t”
Image courtesy of: ABC
Australia opener David Warner has been fined 50 per cent of his match fee for verbally abusing India batsman Rohit Sharma during their ODI tri-series match in Melbourne.
Warner later admitted that he was wrong to have confronted Sharma.
“On the cricket etiquette side of things when you throw a ball to the keeper and it hits a player you don’t run,” Warner told Sky Sports Radio on Monday. “A few of the boys said something to him and when I went over to say something he sort of said something in their language and I said ‘speak English’, because if you’re going to say something for me to understand theoretically, I cannot speak Hindi.
“So I did the polite thing and asked him to speak English, therefore he did, and I can’t repeat what he said. I thought I was okay by asking him to speak English and I’m going to say it a couple of times if he keeps saying it in Hindi. I got slapped on the wrist yesterday by the ICC, I shouldn’t have engaged him and should have went to the other side to my fielding position, but I didn’t.
“The guys behind the wicket said it hit him. I walked in because I presumed it hit him as well. I was in the wrong. What he was saying to me I asked him to speak English. I got in trouble for engaging the player, which technically you’re not allowed to do that now…You’re not supposed to walk at the player. It was between overs and I should have walked around to my fielding position.”
Speaking about the incident, Australia head coach Darren Lehmann supported Warner’s aggression on the field, but added that the flamboyant opener has to ensure that his emotions don’t continue getting the better of him.
“It’s not a great look,” Lehmann said. “The ICC have done something about it. At the end of the day we have to work better at those situations and get better as a group … Davey said he’s been fined 50%, so we’ll deal with that and move on. It’s not an ideal scenario, but we’ve got to make sure we’re playing the cricket we want to play without crossing the line.
“David’s an aggressive character and we support that. It’s just making sure he does the right things on the ground, and he knows that more than most. We’ll work with him with that. We’ve just got to be mindful of the game of cricket, it’s an important entertainment spectacle for people around the world. We’ve got to make sure we play hard but fair, and don’t cross the line.”