Bell, Akram play down row over sledging post Warner's 'speak English' spat

England opener Ian Bell and Pakistan fast bowling great Wasim Akram have both played down Australia's aggressive style of on-field banter, in light of opener David Warner's sledging incident with India's Rohit Sharma.

Warner has been fined 50 percent of his match fee after he screamed at Sharma to 'speak English' during last Sunday's ODI in Melbourne. Both had argued over India's decision to run an overthrow, and it took both umpires to separate Warner from Sharma.

It was Warner's second fine of the summer, having also been fined 15 percent of his match fee for a clash in the first Test against India in Adelaide last month. He faces a two-match ban if he commits another offence during the World Cup, which starts on February 14 in Australia and New Zealand, News.com.au reported.

However, Bell said that cricket is supposed to be an aggressive game. He added that it's probably over-talked about, insisting that one doesn't want people to go over the line but generally he has seen it be managed quite well.

Bell insisted that one wants cricket to be aggressive, adding that they want it to be a contest. He accepted that sometimes one gets carried away with all this talk about sledging, adding that it's about competing, so as long as one doesn't go over that line everything's fine.

Akram has also defended the behaviour of Warner, saying that they are making too much from nothing. He claimed that the incident has received far too much attention.

Akram insisted that as a bowler he did that to all the batsmen, adding that Australia did it to Pakistan, and they did it to them. He said that afterwards they were just friends, after six o'clock.

The TV reaction to Warner's behaviour has left Akram overwhelmed. He said that the Australian is a character and that's what Warner is all about, adding that if he is giving someone a little bit here and there, then he is fine with that.

Pakistan's 1992 World Cup hero Akram added that that is the beauty of the sport.