Warner fined for heated exchange with Rohit
Australian opener David Warner Monday admitted he was in the wrong to approach Indian batsman Rohit
Melbourne, Jan 19 (IANS) Australian opener David Warner Monday admitted he was in the wrong to approach Indian batsman Rohit Sharma over stolen single and revealed he has been fined half his match pay for an angry exchange with the Indian batsman Sunday night at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG).
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Warner admitted he was at fault for sparking the confrontation with India’s century maker halfway through the tourists’ innings in the second match of the ODI tri-series that Australia won by four wickets with an over to spare.
It led Cricket Australia chief executive James Sutherland to issue the in-form opener with a blunt warning "to stop looking for trouble".
Warner approached India’s record-breaking batsman after he and batting partner Suresh Raina took an overthrow that the Australian fielder mistakenly believed had deflected off Sharma’s body - an occurrence that cricket’s etiquette dictates batsmen don’t take advantage of.
According to CA website, in a breakfast radio interview Monday morning, Warner confirmed that he had also called on the Nagpur-born Rohit to "speak English" as heated words were traded and the Australian was unable to comprehend what was being said.
Warner claimed some of his team-mates fielding behind the wicket - to where Warner had thrown the ball and it was missed by ‘keeper Brad Haddin - had told him it had struck Sharma, so he took their word for it.
"I was in the wrong ... I got in trouble for technically engaging the player and you are not allowed to do that now," Warner told Sydney’s Sky Sports Radio.
"On the cricket etiquette side of things, when you throw a ball to the ‘keeper and it hits a player you technically don’t run.
I think a few of the (Australian) boys said something to him and when I went over to say something to him, 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."
"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 to ask him to speak English."
As Warner approached Rohit immediately after the incident, Raina placed himself between the bickering pair in a bid to defuse the confrontation, as Australia’s Glenn Maxwell and later Shane Watson also had their say.
The International Cricket Council (ICC) has yet to confirm any penalties handed following match referee Andy Pycroft’s investigation but Warner confirmed in his radio interview that it had cost him 50 percent of his match fee which means he will be $1,470 lighter.
