Warner and Rohit were involved in a mid-pitch fracas on Sunday
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David Warner has courted trouble again and Cricket Australia is not amused. The explosive Warner was involved in an ugly verbal spat with Rohit Sharma during Sunday's ODI in Melbourne and was fined 50 per cent of his match fees by ICC match referee Andy Pycroft. With World Cup approaching and ICC in no mood to accept gamesmanship, Cricket Australia wants Warner to cool down.
Warner and Sharma were involved in an angry exchange in the 22nd over of the Indian innings. The language 'barrier' only added fuel to fire, but fortunately, it did not assume the ugly 'racial' proportions that Monekygate did in 2008.
"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, understand that theoretically I cannot speak Hindi," Warner said on Monday. "I did the polite thing and asked him to speak English, therefore he did and I can't repeat what he said."
Monkeygate! Harbhajan and Symonds were at loggerheads during the infamous Sydney Test in 2008.
The 'Monkey-gate' issue during the Sydney Test in January 2008, featuring Harbhajan Singh and Andrew Symonds, was also a case of language problems. Symonds had complained of racial taunts by Harbhajan. On Sunday, however, the teams agreed that there was no racial abuse and the tri-series would go on as planned. (Warner's Thuggish Behaviour has Gone too Far: Crowe)
India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni played down the latest incident, saying his team paid no attention to Warner's outburst. "He (Sharma) didn't react inside the dressing room so I think he was fine. I didn't even bother to ask what really happened," Dhoni said. "It was an argument between two grown men. I hope it was sorted out in the middle."
Cricket Australia CEO James Sutherland is also satisfied with Warner's "speak English" run-in but has told the explosive Warner that he needs to "stop looking for trouble," reports the Sydney Morning Herald .
"I have spoken to David to understand what happened in the incident with Rohit Sharma yesterday and to remind him of his responsibilities as an Australian cricketer and a role model," Sutherland said. (Lehmann Warns Aussies to Tone Down Needless Aggression)
"He has worked very hard on his leadership and behaviour over the past 12 months and I have told him very clearly that instances like this only serve to set back the progress he has made. Quite simply, he needs to stop looking for trouble. This is the second time he has been before the ICC match referee this season and that's twice too often.
"From my discussion with David, I am satisfied that his comments to Rohit Sharma were not racially motivated. That said, I have reminded him that he needs to carefully reconsider the manner in which he approaches these sorts of situations in the future." (Warner vs Rohit: Fisticuffs Next? It's Not Ice-Hockey, Says Root)
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