After the second day of the fifth and final India vs England Test ended with India holding a narrow 52-run lead, pacer Prasidh Krishna revealed how he got under Joe Root’s skin in England’s first innings which led to a heated exchange between the duo at The Oval.
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“I don’t know why Rooty [reacted],” Krishna told the BBC’s Test Match Special. “I just said, ‘you’re looking in great shape’ and then it turned into a lot of abuse and all of that.”
Krishna’s comment apparently came when Root had played and missed at a delivery from him when he yet to get off the mark. Root had walked in to bat after Zak Crawley fell with the hosts at 129 for 2. The England star could add just 29 runs, while Krishna ended with best bowling figures of 4/62 for India in Tests.
The India pacer added at the press briefing after stumps on day 2: “It was the plan [to disrupt Root], but I didn’t expect the couple of words that I said to get such a big reaction from him.”
“I love the guy that he is, he is a legend of the game. It’s just when two people are out there wanting to be a winner and wanting to be the best in that moment. It was just a small thing, the competitive edge coming out. Both of us are good mates off the field and it was just a bit of banter.”
Meanwhile, when England assistant coach Marcus Trescothick was asked about India’s plan to rattle Root, England’s highest run-maker this series, he said: “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.”
