On Day 2 of India’s fifth Test against England at The Oval, bowler Prasidh Krishna and veteran batter Joe Root exchanged words. 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.”
Former England captain reacted in an emotional way and had a brief argument with the player. The situation became so tense that umpire Kumar Dharmasena had to step in and especially warned Prasidh for being too aggressive. Dharmasena kept a close watch on Prasidh as the argument between both teams continued. However, Root was later dismissed by Mohammed Siraj. After the day’s play, Root’s comments surprised the Karnataka fast bowler.
“”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” – Prasidh Krishna on His Bowling Approach
At a press conference later that day, Prasidh revealed that the team had intended 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.”
Prasidh Krishna
Marcus Trescothick, England’s assistant coach, noted that each player handles sledging differently and admitted that the verbal strategy may have worked in India’s favor for a short time.
“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.”
Marcus Trescothick
