Warner calls for end to send-offs

A call for improved relations between Australia and India in the final Test match at the SCG has arrived from a most unexpected source. David Warner declared his preference for players on both sides to do away with the practice of sending off or humiliating a dismissed batsman, having fallen on both sides of the equation in the recent past.

The major flashpoint of the Adelaide Test occurred when Warner was given a send-off by Varun Aaron, only to return to the crease and give his own back, plus interest, when replays revealed the Indian pace bowler had delivered a no-ball. Numerous other confrontations grew out of that one, resulting in fines for players on both sides at the end of the game.

Warner has been known to offer his own parting pleasantries to dismissed batsmen, notably joining Brad Haddin in a chorus of howls and barks in Cape Town last March after Faf du Plessis had described the Australians as being like "a pack of dogs" out on the field. He spoke with some self-awareness of his own history when advising that players keep away from send-offs at the SCG from Tuesday.

"I wouldn't say crossing the line, but I've been guilty of it sometimes in the past," Warner said. "Just the way we celebrate wickets, not just the Indian team, we do it as well. Sometimes we've all got to be careful not to get overexcited and get in the batsman's face. Let them walk off, the best thing you can do is turn your back and give them the silent treatment when you get them out, because you have the last laugh doing it that way.

"I know I have to learn, and I've learned from that in the past, but I think all of us can take a message from me, which is a surprise."

Whether Virat Kohli accepts Warner's conciliatory gesture in his first Test match as India's fully-fledged Test captain remains to be seen. Warner acknowledged Australia would be facing a character very different from that of the retired MS Dhoni, but wondered whether Kohli could maintain his aggressive posture as leader.

"I'd like to see him, if he'll come out with the same aggression as last Test, if he will do it as captain," Warner said. "MS thinks a lot about the game, he's very knowledgeable, He knows how to go about getting each individual out. You can see the plans and you know what they're going to bring to the table. In that way he's a very, very smart captain.

"In that way it was always challenging being out there because it was in the back of your mind what trick he had up his sleeve today. Whether it was for me having two people out. I saw last game they didn't have anybody out for the pull shot which for me I thought they're going to pitch the ball up and get me driving which they did.

"And Virat straight away had two players back which is the thing we use - to mix up the batsman's feet and have him thinking the short ball is coming then try and get them playing forward. The way Kohli is and goes about the game he's a fiery character but he goes out there and plays with his heart on his sleeve."

Australia's hyper aggressive posture on the filed has been drawn partly from the physical threat offered by Mitchell Johnson. In his absence, Warner joked that "I don't know how I'm going to sledge anymore ... he usually backs me up a bit", but went on to say more seriously that the team must find a way to compensate for Johnson's presence.

"Mitch has got that x-factor and brings that to the table," Warner said. "I think the opposition sometimes get that fear in themselves that they're going out there to face Mitchell for three or five overs, they've got to get through that tough period. But we've got great stock behind us.

"We've got guys like Mitchell Starc who can bowl 150kph, we've got plenty of stock being groomed at the moment for the next couple of years, there's Pat Cummins, we've seen what Josh Hazlewood can do, up above 140kph, steep bounce, swings it. You've got Peter Siddle, Ryan Harris, these guys do a great job for us."