India skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni has warned controversial fast bowler Shanthakumaran Sreesanth to cut out the hot-headed theatrics at the World Cup.
Dhoni was left unimpressed by Sreesanth’s latest antics in Wednesday’s 117-run warm-up win over New Zealand when he fired a verbal volley at Kiwi opener Brendon McCullum.
The outburst came just four days after the bowler went face-to-face with Australian skipper Ricky Ponting when he made a gesture of an “L” with his thumb and forefinger to imply “Loser.”
Dhoni has now warned the 28-year-old to curb his antics.
“I told him that he should not cross a few boundaries,” Dhoni said. “As for his behavior today, I don’t think there was much.”
“A bit of chit-chat is always fine ... [but] you should not get too personal with a player. If these guidelines are followed I am quite happy with it,” Dhoni said.
Sreesanth went wicketless in the match against the Black Caps, finishing with 0-38 off five overs.
Dhoni has warned his seam attack that they need to improve once action begins in the World Cup tomorrow.
India’s batsmen plundered runs in Chennai before the spinners took seven wickets to seal an emphatic 117-run win.
However, the performance of the fast bowlers was a sore point with left-arm seamer Ashish Nehra’s two wickets costing 55 runs from 7.1 overs.
Sreesanth and Munaf Patel gave away more than six runs an over without any success while spearhead Zaheer Khan was rested to allow him to recover completely from a groin injury.
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