England plunged into a fresh row with India after Michael Vaughan accused their players of acting "against the spirit of the game" by having him dismissed for handling the ball at the China Swamy Stadium in Bangalore.

Vaughan, who became the second England player and only the seventh in Test history to suffer the unusual dismissal, said he was disappointed that some of the Indian team appealed when he trapped a bouncing ball with his glove after trying to sweep the off-spinner Sarandeep Singh. "In a way it probably was against the spirit of the game," he added.

The Yorkshire batsman insisted he was only trying to help the India fielders and added that his captain Nasser Hussain had said to him that he "felt that in a certain situation he would probably have called the batsman back".

"It's a question of whether certain actions are in the spirit of the game and that's purely a judgment call," Hussain later told Wisden.com.

"If the Indians felt that the appeal was in the spirit of the game, then that's their call. I know what my gut feeling and Michael's gut feeling is about it all, and I really don't want to say any more."

But Sourav Ganguly, India's captain, said: "I did not think of recalling him. It was a reflex appeal, Sarandeep appealed instantly."

The match referee Denis Lindsay also backed India, saying of the umpire AV Jayaprakash's decision: "It's very explicit in the laws of the game."

The incident comes at a sensitive time in relations between the countries following Virender Sehwag's controversial suspension by Mike Denness in South Africa last month and with India refusing to play four Tests in England next summer unless England agree to play six one-day internationals in India next year and a five-Test series in 2006.

Lord MacLaurin, the chairman of the England and Wales Cricket Board, arrived here yesterday and is expected to meet his Indian counterpart Jagmohan Dalmiya tomorrow. Vaughan's comments will hardly ease the mood.

Remarkably, given the rarity of handled-ball dismissals - Graham Gooch is the only previous England victim, against Australia at Old Trafford in 1993 - Vaughan was the second man to be given out in such a manner by Jayaprakash in India this year, following Australia's captain Steve Waugh in Madras in March.

That decision proved pivotal, as Australia tumbled from 340 for three to 391 all out and went on to lose the deciding match. Waugh, however, did not complain.

Vaughan said: "There was no way the ball was going to hit the stumps. It was only going to go one way and that was forward. It got lodged between my arm and my pad.

"I let the ball drop on the floor and just thought it was the right thing to do to help their short-leg out and flick it to him. I understand that in the laws of the game it's out but I'm just a bit disappointed that someone on their team appealed."

John Wright, India's coach, said: "People are entitled to their own point of view but I don't want to comment. I don't think I need to."

Vaughan had taken England to 206 for three in a fourth-wicket stand of 113 with Mark Ramprakash. But they then slipped to 219 for six before Craig White and James Foster put on an unbroken 36.

"That's the most disappointing thing, because we were in a strong position and I was playing reasonably well," added Vaughan, who stood his ground for several seconds after Jayaprakash raised his finger, then paused for a word with Ramprakash on his way back to the pavilion. "I was just a bit bemused and asked him if there was any chance that I could be reinstated. He said 'no, get off'."