“He won’t want things like this to keep setting him back”

Image courtesy of: ABC

Former Australia captain Ricky Ponting believes that David Warner’s spat with India batsman Rohit Sharma looked worse on television.

Warner was fined 50 per cent of his match fee for verbally abusing Sharma. During the heated confrontation, Warner was heard telling Sharma to “speak English” repeatedly.

“When David Warner confronted Rohit Sharma between overs at the MCG, it reminded me of a few episodes I found myself involved in on the field,” Ponting wrote in his column for ESPNcricinfo. “However it started or whatever was said, it did not look great, and as I came to understand over the years, the way such exchanges are perceived from off the field often turns out to be more important than the actual topic discussed or words used.

“That has been true of this episode for David, where his 50 per cent match fee fine has come about largely because of how it played on television and came across to fans around the world.”

“After the few incidents he has been involved in across the summer and in past seasons, he is likely to be looked at more closely by ICC officials. Rather than feeling targeted, he should understand that, learn from it and tweak his on-field manner.

“David is capable of that. I have been so impressed by his growth as a cricketer and as a young man. He won’t want things like this to keep setting him back. He will be a bit surprised to have featured prominently in newspaper editorials, but he will learn from the experience for the future.”