Zaheer Khan says England's "insulting" behaviour spurred him on as India closed in on winning the second Test.
Zaheer claimed that England's fielders had tried to put him off by throwing jelly beans onto the wicket when he was batting at Trent Bridge on Sunday.
The left-arm seamer took his revenge with a devastating 5-75 on Monday to leave the hosts facing a big defeat.
He said: "I felt it was insulting - I wasn't sure where it came from but it definitely came from a fielder."
He revealed how he became irritated by one of the close fielders throwing the beans onto the wicket in an attempt to put him off.
"Zaheer wasn't too pleased - I think he prefers the blue ones to the pink ones"
Zaheer reacted by brandishing his bat towards Kevin Pietersen in the gully, prompting the umpires to intervene and talk to England captain Michael Vaughan about the incident.
Zaheer said: "We are here to play cricket and that's what we're looking to do... for me, it definitely inspired me to do well.
"When I go out onto the cricket field I'm serious and I'm there to play cricket. This is Test match cricket we're playing."
It also fired up his fellow paceman Sree Santh, who was fined 50% of his match fee after barging Vaughan during the captain's century knock on Monday.
Asked about Sunday's incident, England wicket-keeper Matt Prior refused to elaborate but defended any team's right to sledge opponents.
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But Paul Collingwood, who hit a determined 63 on Monday, made light of the incident, saying: "Zaheer wasn't too pleased - I think he prefers the blue ones to the pink ones."
No action has so far been taken, but match referee Madugalle has the power to punish those involved once the Test is completed if he believes the International Cricket Council's Code of Conduct has been breached.
Players take jelly beans out to the pitch to give them energy boosts throughout the day.
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