Australian cricketer and captain of the Rajasthan Royals IPL team Shane Warne has been slapped with a $50,000 (Rs 22.5 lakh) by the Indian Cricket Board for publicly criticizing a Rajasthan Cricket Board official.
A special disciplinary committee of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), consisting of IPL chairman Chirayu Amin, Ravi Shastri and IMG’s legal counsel John Loffhagen, has imposed the fine for ‘breach of contract’.
The Committee decided against banning Warne considering his contribution to the game.
Warne and RCB official Sanjay Dixit have been having a public spat for the last several days.
The controversy started after Warne publicly criticised the changing of pitches at the Sawai Man Singh stadium in Jaipur in the ongoing IPL tournament.
Warne told media that he was shocked to be told which pitch to play on during the Royal’s match against the Chennai Super Kings a week ago in Jaipur.
“In four years, we’ve never been told which pitch to play on or how to prepare it. We have no idea who instructed it but it wasn’t coming from us. Every other team has that opportunity to prepare and choose their home pitches, we don’t.” he said.
The Cricket Association hit back by pointing out that none of the teams had a say in choosing pitches. Its head Dixit also threatened a criminal complaint against Warne.