The on-field umpires felt obliged to intervene following a conversation between Ben Stokes and Virat Kohli on the first day’s play at Ahmedabad.
The moment came after a brief interaction between Stokes and Mohammed Siraj after the latter delivered a bouncer to the England all-rounder.
After play, Siraj, who dismissed both Joe Root and Jonny Bairstow on day one, claimed: “He [Stokes] swore at me so I told Virat bhai, but these things keep happening on the ground.”
Stokes played down the incident in the post-day press conference, saying, “I feel nowadays, it’s a massive talking point when you see two opponents having a word with each other. People seem to, not lose their heads, but seem to think it’s all wrong but, look at it from a different way. It’s two, three guys who care about what they’re doing. We’re competitors so we’re not going to back down to anyone. For me that’s what it was, competitive guys trying to get one over each other.”
You can watch the moment between Kohli and Stokes here:
Stokes & Kohli Are Ready To Rumble 🥊#INDvENG 🏏 pic.twitter.com/B9S0neBgDo
— Gontse Lerole (@G_Lerole) March 4, 2021
Subscribe to the Wisden Cricket YouTube channel for post-match awards, player interviews, analysis and much more.
