Darren Lehmann says Australia will continue to push the boundaries with their aggressive style of play after another fiery encounter with India.
Opener David Warner was fined 50 per cent of his match fee after a heated verbal altercation with Rohit Sharma during Australia’s four-wicket win on Sunday night at the MCG.
While Lehmann admitted that wasn’t ideal, the coach was unapologetic on Monday.
“If the ICC decides we cross the line, then they’ll come down on us – we all know that,” Lehmann said.
“We’re always going to teeter pretty close to it – that’s the way that we play – we’ve just got to make sure that we don’t cross it.
“We’ve just got to be really mindful of the game of cricket. It’s an important entertainment spectacle for people around the world. We’ll make sure we play hard and fair, but make sure we don’t cross the line.”
Despite admitting the angry incident – in which Warner demanded Sharma speak English – wasn’t a great look, Lehmann stood firmly behind his player.
“David’s an aggressive character and we support that,” he said. “It’s just making sure he does the right thing on the ground. He knows that better than most, anyway.
“We’ll work with him with that.”
Not for the first time this summer, Australia failed to complete their overs in the allotted time against India, with skipper George Bailey in danger of incurring an ICC ban.
“We should be able to get through in three-and-a-half hours with no dramas,” Lehmann said.
“We were slow and we’ve spoken about getting better at that.
“I spoke to them quite firmly. We don’t want that happening. We want to get through our overs and play an up-tempo game and entertain the people who come to watch in the right timeframe.”
While Bailey awaits his fate, the news is better for Michael Clarke who continues to make positive strides forward as he races against time to be fit for the World Cup.
“He’s ahead of schedule, which is pleasing for us,” Lehmann said.
“He’s had a couple of bats in the nets, which is a really good thing for us. Fingers crossed, but he’s ahead of schedule.
“We’d love him to play some warm-up games, but we’ll be guided by the medical staff there. The pleasing thing is he’s back in the nets and hopefully he can ramp it up from there.”
