“We all know as professional cricketers there are boundaries which we don’t need to cross”

Image courtesy of: abc.net.au

Australia captain Michael Clarke and India opener Rohit Sharma have vowed to ensure that the sledging between both teams during the World Cup semi-finals doesn’t become personal.

Tempers have flared when these two teams have met in the past. In fact, Australia batsman David Warner was fined in January for telling Sharma to “speak English”.

However, in order to ensure none of his team-mates gets fined again, Clarke has promised to keep them under control.

“David will be fine,” Clarke said. “He knows the rules, as we all do, and his rules are no different than the rest of ours. We’ll do whatever we have to do to play our best cricket.

“It’s not what you say, it’s what you do. It’s really important for us to focus on playing our best cricket.”

Sharma agreed with Clarke’s comments and added that anything said will nothing but banter.

“It’s part of the game,” he said. “But as a team we have to stick to our game plan and try to execute what we’ve been doing.

“If there is a bit of banter going around, so be it. There will be times where you’ll see a lot of bowlers and fielders getting right in their faces. Yeah, there will be times.

“I just hope it doesn’t cross the line. We all know as professional cricketers there are boundaries which we don’t need to cross. So, as long as it’s inside those boundaries, we’ll be fine.”