David Warner defends 'speak English' comment to India batsman Rohit Sharma during Australia's ill-tempered Tri-Series clash

Australia batsman David Warner (Getty Images)

David Warner, the Australia batsman, has defended his decision to tell Rohit Sharma to “speak English” during their confrontation in a triangular series match against India here at the weekend, insisted his comments were rational and said he would repeat them in similar circumstances.

Warner’s words have caused much controversy, have led to calls for umpires to be allowed to brandish football-style red and yellow cards and have cost Warner half his match fee. But Warner was in no mood to apologise yesterday.

“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,” Warner said. “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 OK by asking him to speak English and I am going to say it a couple of times if he keeps saying it in Hindi. If people get on the wrong side of me, I’m not going to back down.”

However, his boss at Cricket Australia, chief executive, James Sutherland took a dim view of Warner’s behaviour. “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,” Sutherland said.

“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,” Sutherland added. “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.”

Indian batsman Rohit Sharma (Getty Images)

Warner’s behaviour led the former New Zealand captain Martin Crowe to call for the introduction of umpire cautions and dismissals for misbehaving players. Crowe, writing on cricinfo also called Warner “thuggish” and “juvenile” and suggested he could soon become involved in an on-field brawl.

Having previously been on the receiving end of Warner’s fiery temper – the infamous punch in a Birmingham bar ahead of the 2013 Ashes – England batsman Joe Root sees the logic in calls for the introduction of a card system. “It seems there’s a lot of people who are not happy with the way players are holding themselves on the field, so if that will sort it out then why not?” Root said. “When you’re out there your job is to score runs or take wickets and if your focus is elsewhere then you’re not doing your best for the team. You just instinctively know where the line is.

“You try to make sure you have respect for the opposition but still play to win and play hard cricket. That’s how we want it. I’m sure the ICC will handle it, it’s up to them to sort it out.”

Despite Root’s late-night run-in with Warner, the 24-year-old does not expect to see opponents getting physical with each other. “I can’t see it. Someone will have to be in a really bad place to do that,” he said. “It should not be about trying to upset the opposition too much. You should do that with ball or bat. There have been a few things that have happened [recently] that haven’t been good for the game but I can’t see it leading to a punch-up. It’s not ice hockey.”

Meanwhile, the Australia coach, Darren Lehmann, says captain Michael Clarke is “ahead of schedule” in his quest to be fit to play at next month’s World Cup.