Cricket: England and India players in second test confrontation

India's Virat Kohli, right, and Mohammed Siraj celebrate the wicket of England's Jos Buttler during day five of the second test match at Lord's. Photo / AP

The England and India cricket sides reportedly were involved in a heated confrontation in the Lord's Long Room during the second test last week.

The Telegraph reports there was 'tense scenes' in the Lord's pavilion at the end of the third day. Late in the day's play Indian bowler Jasprit Bumrah bowled repeated short balls at England No.11 James Anderson.

According to the report, which referred to the incident as a 'bust-up', England captain Joe Root and India's skipper Virat Kolhi exchanged words on their way to the dressing rooms at the end of play as the situation threatened to escalate.

"Confrontations in the Lord's Long Room - the hallowed inner sanctum of English cricket - are almost unheard of," the Telegraph report said. The Long Room is usually packed with MCC members for test matches but it was closed to the public due to Covid-19 restrictions and was being used as a dining room for both teams.

The third test starts in Headingley tonight.

India's 151-run victory in the second test was secured on a dramatic final day at Lord's when England was bullied into submission in a fractious environment that saw lots of sledging from both teams.

There might be plenty of respect for their respective abilities as batsmen, but there's clearly no love lost between Root and Kohli.

"There's the theater and everything else surrounding the game. We've got to make sure that we play the game how we want to play and we look after that as best as we can, and not get too distracted or drawn into anything that's not honest," Root said in a video call after arriving at Headingley.

"We've got to be genuine to ourselves, genuine to how we are as individuals and how we are collectively and be as good as we can, the way that we go. Virat's team will play how they play."

Kohli remained in a bullish mood Tuesday.

"It just showed this team is not going to back down and take a backward step when provoked," he said. "What is said on the field, and what's done in the moment, gives you extra motivation, as I said after the game, to get together as a team even more strongly."

- With AP