Pietersen was more than ready to meet Zaheer half way; the two players came together near the silly point region, and had words.
Andrew Srauss, the stand in captain for England, as skipper Michael Vaughan was off the field, could have stepped in to defuse the situation; he did not. The other close in fielders added fuel to the promising fire, with their own taunts.
Sledging -- or gamesmanship, the more innocuous word its practitioners give it -- has long been an accepted part of the game, and the Indians are no innocents, being known to occasionally give back as good as they get.
Even by the standards of contemporary cricket, though, the situation was getting out of hand. Verbals are one thing; the introduction of physical objects to upset a batsman, quite another.
The umpires intervened when the confrontation threatened to get physical.
An aggrieved Zaheer pointed out to umpire Ian Howell, then officiating at the straight end, a jelly bean that had materialised just about where he takes his guard.
This has, he told the umpire, been going on ever since I came in to bat.
Umpire Simon Taufel walked up to join his colleague in his investigations.
India in the United Kingdom 2007
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