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On a wicket where the Indian spinners bowled beautifully, pacer Mohammed Siraj picked the important wickets of England skipper Joe Root and Jonny Bairstow on the opening day of the fourth Test at the Narendra Modi Stadium on Thursday.
While Siraj was impressive with the ball, he was also involved in a verbal duel with England all-rounder Ben Stokes which also saw skipper Virat Kohli getting involved. Speaking after the end of the day's play, Siraj said that Stokes was swearing at him and Kohli handled it well. "He (Stokes) was swearing at me, so Virat intervened and handled that well," Siraj said. Tempers flared in the first session on Day One as Kohli and Stokes clashed in the middle with umpire Nitin Menon having to intervene. The chat between Kohli and Stokes heated up at the end of the 13th over. The Indian skipper was visibly unhappy with something Stokes said to Siraj and as a result, he decided to have a lengthy chat with the England all-rounder. After the final ball of the 12th over, Stokes came down the wicket and he had a word with Siraj. Kohli was not happy with the turn of events and decided to take it up with Stokes. In the end, on-field official Menon had to intervene to separate Kohli and Stokes. In the very next over, Siraj was also seen in an aggressive mood and he had a go at Stokes. India bundled out England for 205 and then reached 24/1 at Stumps on Day One. Commenting on his bowling effort, Siraj said: "We planned to bowl patiently and keep bowling at the same spot. Virat bhai told me that we have only two fast bowlers so we will keep rotating, and we will be well-rested. When I started bowling from the Reliance end, there was a little extra bounce and good movement from that end after I switched." "When I played in Australia or when I play here, I will put my effort on every ball otherwise it'll affect the team, and it'll release the pressure. I just want to bowl every ball giving my 100 per cent," he added. (ANI)
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