Mohammed Siraj: Ben Stokes abused me, Virat Kohli handled it

India pacer Mohammed Siraj played down the incident with Ben Stokes during day one of the fourth Test in Ahmedabad saying "such things keep happening".

Virat Kohli and Mohammed Siraj celebrate the dismissal of Joe Root on day one of the fourth Test against England in Ahmedabad.

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.

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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."

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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.