Aaron Finch defends David Warner's sledging

Aaron Finch

Adelaide, January 21 (IANS)

Australian opener Aaron Finch has backed teammate David Warner over sledging saying the latter's ability to take on opponents verbally benefits the team.

“Having a guy like that (Warner) in your team is fantastic,” Finch was quoted as saying by the Cricket Australia website on Wednesday.

The explosive right-hander also explained that sometimes the on-field situation boils over and it becomes difficult to control your temper.

“Every now and then it just boils over, it's not a nice thing to have happen. He (Warner) knows he toes the line quite a bit and we love the way that he plays," he said.

However, he wants to eradicate the abuse from the game that is hurled at players after being dismissed as he believes, “Once you knock a guy over it's really pointless carrying on like a pork chop.”

Sticking to his original stand he further added there was a place for verbal confrontations provided it was not personal and offensive.

“But when you're out in the middle in the heat of battle, a bit of sledging is fine - it's been happening forever. And I think if it's done in the right way and the right spirit, nobody should really get offended by it.”

Warner was fined 50 percent of his match fee for getting into an altercation with Indian batsman Rohit Sharma during Sunday's One-Day International match against Australia.