Keep your cool, BCCI bosses tell Indian team

STEERING CLEAR OF TROUBLE: Indian team have been told not to be involved in any on-field argument.

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Keywords: Controversy, Bcci

Mumbai: India's cricket chiefs have told players to keep their cool during the tri-series finals against Australia to prevent more disputes between the two teams. "We do not want any more arguments on the ground," India's cricket board (BCCI) secretary Niranjan Shah told Reuters on Tuesday.

"If you (a player) have a problem, go to the umpires, match referee of tell the team manager." The latest controversy involved fast bowler Ishant Sharma and Australia all-rounder Andrew Symonds during Sunday's tri-series match. Sharma was fined 15 per cent of his match fee for celebrating Symonds dismissal by pointing the batsman to the dressing room during a heated exchange.

The Indian team manager Bimal Soni filed an official complaint on Sunday to match referee Jeff Crowe about the Australian team's behaviour. The letter, contents of which were published by the Indian media on Tuesday, lists incidents "where Indian players were subjected to abuse on the field which have been noticed by the on-field umpires".

"Even if we have tried to play in the spirit of the game, some of the players from the Australian side have made a few comments that has brought disharmony to the game," the letter stated. India beat Sri Lanka by seven wickets on Tuesday to qualify for the three-match finals against the hosts starting on Sunday.

The most serious incident on the tour occurred in the second test in Sydney when spinner Harbhajan Singh was initially given a three-match ban for racially abusing Symonds. The penalty was later changed to a fine after the charges were downgraded to a lesser offence on appeal when the row between the teams threatened to boil over.