Intense Verbal Clash Between Prasidh Krishna and Joe Root During Test Match
Verbal Confrontation on Day 2 of the Test
During the second day of the fifth and final Test in the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy series at The Oval in London on August 1, a heated exchange occurred between Indian pacer Prasidh Krishna and England's Joe Root.
After India was bowled out for 224 runs, England began their first innings with openers Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett, who aggressively attacked the Indian bowling, forming a 92-run partnership before Duckett was dismissed by Akash Deep for 43 runs.
Following Duckett's exit, England found themselves at 129/2 after Crawley was dismissed for 64 runs. Joe Root entered the game at No. 4, partnering with Ollie Pope to build on the solid start provided by the openers.
The Heated Exchange Between Prasidh Krishna and Joe Root
As Root began to settle in and rotate the strike, Prasidh Krishna was seen sledging him after each delivery during the 22nd over. Root, visibly upset, responded with words of his own.
The incident escalated when Root hit a four off Krishna's last delivery of the over and exchanged words with the bowler while heading to the non-striker's end. Umpires stepped in to defuse the situation, and Indian players engaged in a discussion with the officials to ease tensions.
This brief yet intense moment added excitement to the match, highlighting the competitive spirit of both teams in this crucial decider at The Oval.
Previous Tensions in the Series
The ongoing Test series has seen several tense moments. In the Lord's Test, a confrontation arose between England's Zak Crawley and Indian captain Shubman Gill over accusations of time-wasting.
In Manchester, England's captain Ben Stokes offered a handshake for an early draw while Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar were approaching their centuries, but Jadeja declined, leading to accusations against Stokes of denying them their milestones.
Before the Oval Test, a confrontation occurred between Gautam Gambhir and pitch curator Lee Fortis, who rudely instructed the Indian coaching staff to maintain a distance from the pitch.
India's Strong Performance in the Afternoon Session
After a challenging morning session on Day 1, where England dominated, India made a strong comeback in the afternoon.
The breakthrough came when Prasidh Krishna dismissed Zak Crawley for 64 runs at 129/2. Mohammed Siraj then took out Ollie Pope for 22 runs at 142/3. Joe Root and Harry Brook attempted to build a partnership until Root was dismissed by Siraj for 29 runs at 175/4.
Following Root's exit, Brook was joined by Jacob Bethell, who was dismissed for 6 runs at 195/4. Jamie Smith briefly joined Brook but was out for 8 runs, leaving England at 215/7, with Brook and Gus Atkinson at the crease with scores of 33 and 0, respectively, trailing by 9 runs at the end of the second session.