05 March,2021 07:20 AM IST | Ahmedabad | Harit Joshi
India skipper Virat Kohli and Ben Stokes exchange words. Pic/AFP
It was a pleasant morning here on Thursday, but the heat was definitely on at the Narendra Modi Stadium on Day One of the fourth and final Test.
Mohd Siraj
After dismissing England skipper Joe Root for five, India's Mohammed Siraj fired in a bouncer at new batsman Ben Stokes at the end of the 13th over. The flamboyant English all-rounder offered some lip service to the rookie Indian pacer.
After the first ball of his next over, Siraj exchanged words with Stokes. The southpaw responded with three boundaries in that over. Soon, India skipper Virat Kohli got involved in a conversation with Stokes with Jonny Bairstow looking on.
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The conversation between Kohli and Stokes got animated and umpire Virender Sharma had to build a virtual wall to ensure Kohli and Stokes backed off.
Siraj revealed that Stokes abused him. "Woh mere ko gaali diya [Stokes abused me]. I complained to Viratbhai and then he intervened. He handled the issue very well," Siraj said during the media interaction after the day's play.
The Hyderabadi pacer did not wish to elaborate on what was spoken by Kohli and Stokes. "These things keep happening on the field," is all he said.
Stokes too did not reveal much. "It's two professionals showing they care about the sport that they love. A lot gets said these days when two guys seem to come to words out in the middle. There was completely nothing untoward, just two blokes who care about what they do and two guys who definitely don't back down," said Stokes.
It can be recalled that Siraj was subjected to racist remarks in the Sydney Test recently. He had complained to stand-in skipper Ajinkya Rahane and an official complaint was filed with Cricket Australia.
Siraj said getting the captain's backing plays a very important role. "When you know that you have your captain's backing, it makes a huge difference to the confidence level of a youngster," he said.
