On the 2nd day of India’s fifth Test against England at The Oval, bowler Prasidh Krishna and veteran batter Joe Root had a heated altercation. The pacer later addressed the matter, stating that Root’s reaction caught him by surprise.
Root arrived at the crease following a good opening partnership between Ben Duckett and Zak Crawley, who fell after a half-century to Prasidh. The England batter, who often maintains his cool and avoids on-field disputes, was unhappy barely minutes into his stay. Prasidh’s fast delivery hit him in the glove on his very first ball. The Indian pacer then told Root, “You’re looking in great shape.”
The comment sparked an animated response from the former English skipper, with the two trading a few words. The altercation escalated to the point when umpire Kumar Dharmasena interfered, reprimanding Prasidh for his excessive violence. Dharmasena kept a careful eye on Prasidh while the arguments between the two camps continued. However, Root was eventually dismissed for 29, thanks to Mohammed Siraj. Following the day’s play, the Karnataka pacer was surprised by Root’s comments.
“I don’t know why Rooty [reacted]. I just said, ‘You’re looking in great shape,’ and then it turned into a lot of abuse and all of that,” he told the BBC’s Test Match Special.
I can get under the nerves of the batsman and get a reaction from them: Prasidh Krishna
At the press conference later in the day, Prasidh clarified that the team had indeed planned to engage Root verbally as part of a strategy.
“That was the plan, but I didn’t expect the couple of words I said to get such a big reaction from him. That’s just who I am when I’m bowling, when I’m enjoying. If it means that I have a bit of a chatter with the batter… and it does help me when I can get under the nerves of the batsman and get a reaction from them. But I love the guy that he is. He is a legend of the game and I think it is great when two people are out there wanting to do the best and be a winner at a given moment,” he added.
England assistant coach Marcus Trescothick pointed out that every player deals with sledging differently and admitted the verbal tactic may have briefly worked in India’s favour.
“I think they made a comment, didn’t they? He [Prasidh] obviously tried to get after him [Root] and spark him up a little bit. Maybe they have seen him play so well over the last couple of games that India tried a different approach, and Joe bit back, as sometimes he does. Normally, he is the sort of guy who just laughs and giggles and allows things to happen, but today he just chose a different route. Everyone has their own method of dealing with that sort of approach, and today Joe bit back,” Trescothick said after the day’s play.
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