“It's an incident that has been blown out of proportion. A few jelly beans were left on the floor by the stumps at a drinks interval as we got a wicket. If it offended Zaheer in any way, we apologise for that. It's not the reason why we've lost a game of cricket, because of some jelly beans. We just didn't apply ourselves as well as we could have done with the bat. We were probably 60 or 70 runs short in the first and second innings," Vaughan said.
Dwelling on the issue further, Vaughan said, "The game is played in a tough manner and, yes, there were probably instances that may have gone over the line, but it's just two teams trying as hard as they can to win a game of cricket.
"I don't think we stepped over the line. Maybe we said a few things too much in the first innings, it's just good gamesmanship. I don't think we've said anything untoward. We're trying to play tough cricket. I felt we had a chance of posting 150 to 180 and we all know that chasing that target, as we saw against Australia (when England won by three wickets in 2005) can sometimes be tricky. That game was in the back of my mind," he added.
Vaughan expressed the confidence that England can make a comeback in the third Test at the Oval. Since Ashes 2001, England have not lost a series at home. "The two games against India have been proper Test match cricket. They've been hard and the batsmen have found it difficult. I thought we played some good cricket. It was a big toss to lose. Sidebottom with one wicket, I can't think of a higher travesty. I'm confident we have it in us to get 20 wickets. The Oval has been a good hunting ground and the key is getting runs on the board," he said.