During Day 2 of the fifth Test at The Oval, a heated exchange occurred between India's Prasidh Krishna and England's Joe Root. The on-field umpires had to intervene after Root reacted angrily to Krishna's sledging.
Team India pacer Prasidh Krishna and England star batter Joe Root were involved in a verbal altercation during Day 2 of the ongoing fifth and final Test in the ongoing Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy series at the Oval in London on Friday, August 1.
After bundling out India for 224, England assumed their first innings batting, with openers Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett resorted to ultra-aggressive batting to take on the visitors' bowling attack from the word g,o and stitched a 92-run stand for the opening wicket before the latter was dismissed by Akash Deep for 43.
Thereafter, England were reduced to 129/2 following Zak Crawley’s dismissal for 64, and Joe Root walked in to bat at No.4 and joined Pope at the crease to carry on England’s innings, especially building on the foundation laid by the opening partnership between Duckett and Crawley.
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Prasidh Krishna-Joe Root heated exchange
As Joe Root settled in and began rotating the strike, Prasidh Krishna appeared to have sledging the England star batter after every delivery in the 22nd over. However, Root was visibly furious at Krishna and was seen exchanging words.
The incident took place in the 22nd over after Joe Root smashed a four off Prasidh Krishna’s final delivery of the over and exchanged words with the Indian pacer while going towards the non-striker end. The on-field umpires intervened to avoid making the situation worse, and the Indian players joined in a conversation with the umpire to calm things down.
The brief but tense moment added spice to the contest, with both teams showing intensity in the high-stakes Oval decider.
The ongoing Test series witnessed many tense moments. In the Lord’s Test, England opener Zak Crawley and India captain Shubman Gill were involved in a heated exchange after the former was accused of deliberate time-wasting tactics, which laid the foundation for rising on-field tensions throughout the series.
In the Manchester Test, England skipper Ben Stokes offered a handshake for an early draw when Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar were nearing centuries. However, Jadeja politely declined Stokes’ request, and he and Sundar completed their centuries. Stokes was accused of deliberately denying them to score centuries.
Ahead of the Oval Test, Gautam Gambhir and pitch curator Lee Fortis were involved in a heated altercation after the latter rudely asked the Team India head coach and support staff to stay ‘2.5 metres’ away from the pitch.
India dominates in the second session of Day 2
Team India pacers struggled in the morning session of Day 1, as England dominated the opening exchanges, but the visitors bounced back strongly in the afternoon session.
The first breakthrough of the session was Zak Crawley, who was dismissed by Prasidh Krishna for 64 at 129/2. Thereafter, Ollie Pope’s stay at the crease was ended by Mohammed Siraj for 22 at 142/3. Then, Joe Root was joined by Harry Brook at the crease, and the pair was hoping to form a good partnership until the former was dismissed by Siraj for 29 at 175/4.
Following Root’s dismissal, Brook was joined by Jacob Bethell, who was again dismissed by Siraj for 6 at 195/4. Thereafter, Jamie Smith joined Brook at the crease to carry on England’s innings. However, Smith had a short stay at the crease as he was dismissed for 8 by Prasidh Krishna at 215/6.
Then, Prasidh removed Jamie Overton for 0 as England posted a total of 215/7, with Harry Brook and Gus Atkinson batting on 33 and 0, respectively, and trailing by 9 runs at the end of the second session.
