Australian opener David Warner has defended his role in a verbal battle with Indian opener Rohit Sharma during Australia's second ODI win in Tri-Series, saying that he did the polite thing to ask him to speak English.
The incident was sparked after India ran a contentious single off an overthrow the Australians believed came after Warner's return deflected off Sharma.
Tempers were on a high during Australia's four-wicket win against India in the second ODI of the tri-series at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Sunday when Warner demanded Sharma to speak English instead of his native Hindi.
Following the incident, Warner was fined 50 percent of his match fee after admitting a charge of conduct contrary to the spirit of the game.
In response, Warner said that he did the polite thing to ask him to speak English as he couldn't speak Hindi. He further said that he thought he was OK by asking him to speak English and he would say it a couple of times if he keeps saying it in Hindi, the BBC reported.
If people get on the wrong side of him, he is not going to back down, he added.