CANBERRA, Jan. 19 (Xinhua) -- Australian cricketer Dave Warner has defended his actions after being fined 50 percent of his match fee by the International Cricket Council (ICC) for telling Indian batsman Rohit Sharma to "speak English" during an on-field dispute.
The incident occurred midway through India's batting innings in Sunday's first ODI between the two sides and followed a heated Test series, in which the debate surrounding sledging again came to the forefront of discussions.
However, speaking to Sky Sports Radio on Monday, Warner said he approached Rohit with the intention of being civil.
"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."
Rohit had just profited from a stray throw from Warner on his way to 138 from 139 balls, gaining an extra run and triggering the ugly incident.
Although Warner refused to apologize for the confrontation, he did concede that he regretted approaching the Indian batsman.
"I was in the wrong.. I shouldn't have engaged him," Warner told Sky Sports Radio.
"If people get on the wrong side of me, I'm not going to back down.
"We're always there to play hard, aggressive cricket, but you know what comes with that, sometimes you are going to get fined.
"We've just got to keep trying not to cross that line, because we're all about playing cricket the right way."
Speaking after Sunday's match, which Australia won by four wickets with six balls to spare, Indian captain MS Dhoni urged both teams to move on from the incident.
"He (Rohit) didn't react inside the dressing room so I think he was fine," Dhoni told reporters.
"I didn't even bother to ask what happened, really.
"It was an argument between two grown men. I hope it was sorted out in the middle."
The ODI tri-series, which also involves England, continues on Tuesday when India face England in Brisbane.