Faf du Plessis reflected upon the incident on Day 4 of the fourth and final Test against England where the South Africa captain appeared to have bumped into wicket-keeper Jos Buttler while exchanging words with the visitors' spearhead Stuart Broad. 

The incident happened when Du Plessis and Rassie van der Dussen were delaying the inevitable defeat for their team with a resolute 92-run stand under the scorching sun. 

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But what really seemed to annoy the English players was Du Plessis picking up the ball after playing a defensive shot, which triggered a heated exchange when a throw from Sam Curran hit the pads of the home team captain. 

"That’s part of my character. If you go back you’ll find I’m always involved in a little bit of something in a game, trying to show that fight as a leader of the team to show you don’t stand back to opposition," AFP quoted Du Plessis as saying after his team's heavy loss that saw England lift the Basil d'Oliveira trophy following a 3-1 series scoreline. 

"It’s not like I’m looking for it but if it comes across my way I won’t back down. So that was just him (Broad) saying something to me and me saying something back."

"I don’t think either Jos or myself knew we touched each other," he added. "It was just myself and Broady having a go at each other at that stage and it was him trying to get between me and him. There was no malicious intent."

England captain Joe Root, on his part, said there was absolutely no animosity between the individuals involved in the incident. 

"I thought Faf was using it to get himself going and my worry was that it was going to work in his favour," he said. "It was absolute handbags."

South Africa was fined 60 percent of the team's match fee and docked six World Test Championship points for a slow over rate offence in the game by the ICC. 

(Inputs from AFP)