India fast bowler Mohammed Siraj claimed that England all-rounder Ben Stokes abused him after he bowled a bouncer on day one of the fourth Test against England in Ahmedabad.
He thanked skipper Virat Kohli for handling the situation. "Ben Stokes gave me gali (abused) so I told Virat bhai about that. He handled it. These things keep happening on the ground. As a player, getting the captain's backing is crucial. If one player backs another, it boosts the confidence," he told reporters in a virtual interaction at stumps.
Siraj picked up the crucial wickets of Joe Root and Jonny Bairstow - both LBW - and was the only pacer among wickets on a strip that yet again assisted spinners R. Ashwin (3/47) and Axar Patel (4/68). "I thought I will just set Root up. The ball was swinging away for a long time and I wanted one delivery to go in. Bairstow hadn't faced me. So whatever videos I had seen of his batting, I figured that he has always fallen to in swing. So I wanted to hit the area and thankfully I was successful."
The youngster also said that the wicket was good for batting. "We just have to play well in every session. It is a good batting track."
After bowling England out for 205, India finished the day at 24/1 with Rohit Sharma (8 off 34) and Cheteshwar Pujara (15 off 26) on crease.