The popular perception is that Zaheer, goaded by the attempted insult, dishedout a great, inspirational bowling performance which put his side one up in thethree-match series.
The pacer himself, however, feels that too much has been made of theincident.
"It was important for me to tell the truth," Zaheer said in aninterview.
"I thought they had no business to do what they did and it was simply anatural reaction from me," said Zaheer.
The left-arm pacer said he did not get carried away by the incident and neverlost his focus.
"There was no way that I was instigated or upset. I had a job to do andI stuck to it, without getting carried away by such incidents. I bowled in theright areas, and on that day, the ball did swing a lot," explained Zaheerthrowing some more light into his magical bowling performance (9-134) that setup India's sensational victory.
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As for the overall aggression in his bowling, the pacer said it was nothingnew.
"I have always been very aggressive. That's pretty much an integral partof any fast bowler."
Asked about relations between the two sides, Zaheer said there was no badblood between the hosts and the visitors.
"It's okay. It looked like things were dangerously close to getting outof hand but it hasn't, to be honest. Both teams have played good and aggressivecricket and that's fine. Playing hard is not a problem at all as long as thespirit of the game is not abused," Zaheer said.
He also said the fresh resolve and confidence in his bowling have beenresults of a lot of hard work put in by him over the last year.
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"I have learnt a few things in the last twelve months," said Zaheerwho made a comeback to the Indian team on the tour of South Africa late lastyear.
"My experiences have helped me grow both, as a bowler and also as aperson. It's important to have good physical fitness. As much important is matchfitness. And it's also important to maintain your rhythm and focus."
Zaheer gave credit of his splendid success in the series to his fellowbowlers.
"I have just played my part. The fact is that we have clicked as a unit.There are designated roles for everyone and that played a crucial part.
"As a bowler you got to realise that everyday is not your day. On theway you know things are not going your way, you try to bowl well within yourselfand rely on support from the other end," he said.
"Both R P Singh and Sreesanth have provided me excellent support. On theother hand, during the time RP or Sreesanth were bowling well, I had to supportthem from the other end. We complimented each other very well."
Asked for his thoughts on the final Test, he said the team goal was to go forvictory.
"It's a great feeling to be going into the Test 1-0. We are just tryingto stay focussed. There's a lot to hard work to be done over the next fivedays."
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PTI
