India team manager fined for 'inappropriate comments'

Indian team manager Vinod Phadke has been fined 40% of his match fee by the International Cricket Council for making "inappropriate comments" on a number of contentious umpiring decisions by Vineet Kulkarni, following India's loss to South Africa in the first ODI in Kanpur on Sunday.

ICC match referee Chris Broad held a hearing at the end of the second ODI in Indore on Wednesday, as Phadke pleaded not guilty to the charge.

"I have not seen the captain's report, but I am going to mention him (the umpire) in my report," Phadke had said on Tuesday. "It is obvious to everybody that the umpiring has not been good."

Phadke was found to have breached Article 2.1.3 of the ICC Code of Conduct for Players and Player Support Personnel, which relates to "Public criticism of, or inappropriate comment in relation to an incident occurring in an International Match or any Player, Player Support Personnel, Match official or team participating in any International Match."

Phadke had commented on Kulkarni's umpiring decisions during the first T20I in Dharamsala and the first ODI in Kanpur. India were reportedly unhappy with Kulkarni's decision of denying JP Duminy's wicket after an lbw appeal off Bhuvneshwar Kumar in the T20, and the decision of giving Shikhar Dhawan out lbw off Morne Morkel during the ODI.

Kulkarni's stint as an on-field umpire for the series came to an end in Indore. He will now return as the third umpire for the final ODI of the series in Mumbai.