AUCKLAND, Dec 2: Two Indian cricket players were Monday fined by New Zealand’s Ministry of Agriculture for arriving in the country with dirty shoes, Indian team management confirmed.

Off-spinner Harbhajan Singh and batsman Virender Sehwag were hit with US$100 instant fines for their undeclared dirty footwear as the Indian team flew in here.

New Zealand, one of the world’s leading agricultural exporters, is particularly sensitive to bio security in the wake of the European foot and mouth and mad cow disease outbreaks.

New Zealand also fears the tropical fruit fly and currently much of Auckland city is each morning being sprayed from the air after painted apple moth got into the country accidentally, threatening the timber industry.

Singh and Sehwag could have contested the instant fine but run the risk of a US$200,000 fine if found guilty in court.

Indian manager N.R. Chaudhry said that they were not upset over the event, saying, “these things happen”.

Singh and Sehwag are not the first sportsmen caught: members of the Australian rugby league team copped instant fines earlier this year for identical offences.

If the two men had declared their shoes they would have been taken off them, cleaned at New Zealand taxpayer expense, and returned to them.

Singh and Sehwag are both expected to feature prominently in the upcoming Test and one-day series between India and New Zealand.—AFP