David Warner revealed why he wanted Rohit Sharma to speak 'English' during their verbal duel

Australian cricketer David Warner has opened up on his verbal duel with Indian opener Rohit Sharma. The Australian Test vice-captain has revealed the reason behind him asking Sharma to speak in English during India’s tour of Australia 2014-15. The Australian was termed ‘thuggish’ and ‘juvenile’ by former New Zealand captain Martin Crowe.

He also received a warning from Cricket Australia CEO James Sutherland after the incident involving him and Sharma in Melbourne. Warner said that he wanted Sharma to speak English, as there were high chances of him getting penalized for saying the same.

Warner is a changed man now. He smashes the ball with the same raw force and can be seen smiling in between overs and has also cut down on the ‘sledges’. With responsibilities upon his shoulder, the ‘Bull’ as he is known as, has turned into a peacemaker.

Warner on the spat with Rohit Sharma

“After the Rohit Sharma incident (I stopped). I felt I had a valid point there, because if I’m going to swear in a different language on the big screen, nobody is going to do something about it. But if I said what he was saying to me, in English, and you could lip read me — I’ll still get in trouble anyway,” Warner was quoted as saying by ESPNCricinfo.

Warner was dejected to be at the receiving end of the incident, as he wanted Sharma to utter the same words in ‘English’ in front of the giant screen.“That’s where I was really disappointed with what happened. Everybody interpreted it the way I actually said. It wasn’t being racist or anything like that. I just clearly wanted him to swear at me in English so everyone else could hear what he was saying.”

Warner ensures fire during Ashes

But he added that he won’t shy away from the banter once English team arrives for the Ashes this summer. “I’ll be doing everything I can to make sure that when we’re out there, we’ve got a lot of energy and buzz. Whether that’s being vocal or with my intent batting and in the field. When it comes to the Ashes, it’s a massive thing for us,” he said.

He also clarified his recent comments and said “Given what happened in India, given the IPL and county cricket. Everyone’s mates, we are mates, but sometimes you have to really try and work a way out to actually build some kind of — I used the word ‘hatred’ the other day. But some dislike, make things a little bit uncomfortable for blokes when they’re out there,” said Warner,