Royals to take disciplinary action against Warne

Rajasthan Royals on Saturday decided to take disciplinary action against its captain Shane Warne after an internal probe found the Australian guilty of publicly insulting Rajasthan Cricket Association (RCA) secretary Sanjay Dixit.

"The player (Warne) has accepted the action that we have taken and apologised for any distress caused," Rajasthan Royals CEO Sean Morris informed Dixit about the action taken against Warne.

Shane Warne

He could be banned from one Indian Premier League (IPL) match and also fined.u00a0 The incident happened after Rajasthan Royals' match against Bangalore Royal Challengers on Wednesday.u00a0 RCA said Warne "insulted and abused" Dixit, who did not pay heed to his repeated request for changing the pitch. RCA lodged an official complaint against Warne.

Morris said an internal disciplinary panel was convened on the issue. "The panel met Warne to review his comments made to yourself (Dixit) post the prize ceremony. Following submissions from the player and other management staff who were present at the incident, we have decided to take disciplinary action against the player," Morris said in the letter.

Morris said the franchise will not tolerate such behaviour from any player.

"We have told all our players that we will not tolerate colourful language towards anyone and in particular not a senior officer such as yourself (Dixit)," Morris said.

RCA has also convened a meeting of its Legal Affairs Committee today "to consider the criminal complaint against Shane Warne for publicly insulting honorary secretary of RCA Sanjay Dixit".

It all started when Warne expressed shock and disappointment over being instructed to play on a new surface in their home match against Chennai on Monday. "We have never been told to play on any particular wicket in the past four years. It is ridiculous to have instructions for the pitch." "It is the right of every team to extract the best out of home conditions," Warne had said after his team's 63-run loss to the Super Kings.