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So far the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy 2025 has been no stranger to tense moments. From reports claiming England’s time-wasting disputes during the Lord’s Test to the viral handshake controversy involving Ben Stokes, the series has witnessed such flashpoints which make it appear to be a fierce contest. The final Test between the two teams, also witnessed an incident which added spice in this intense series. It occurred when England were chasing the target given by Team India, who got all out scoring 224.
In what appeared to be a high drama incident at The Oval Test, Indian speedster Prasidh Krishna and English batter Joe Root engaged in a fiery verbal exchange on the pitch. During the middle session of the day, a usually composed Joe Root was seen losing his cool over some things that Prasidh said. This incident prompted umpire Kumar Dharmasena to intervene. However, in a press conference after the day’s play both the teams downplayed the episode. Prasidh called it “just banter”, while England assistant coach Marcus Trescothick described it as “nothing” out of the ordinary.
I didn’t expect the words I said to get such a big reaction from him: Prasidh Krishna
The incident unfolded in the 24th over of England’s first innings, when the hosts were at 129/2. Prasidh Krishna, who had just dismissed Zak Crawley for 64, turned his attention to Joe Root, England’s leading run-scorer in the series with 432* runs. When a wobble-seam delivery beat Root’s defence, Prasidh was seen directing some words towards Root with the latter responding uncharacteristically with a verbal retort after guiding the next ball for a boundary through the slips. Prasidh admitted that he was surprised to see Root’s reaction. “I didn’t expect the couple of words I said to get such a big reaction from him,” he said.
In the press conference, Prasidh also said that the verbal sparring was “the plan” to unsettle Root. The exchange appeared to unsettle Root, who was dismissed for 29 off 45 balls, trapped lbw by Mohammed Siraj in a sharp inswinger. Both Prasidh and Siraj triggered the collapse of the English batters, with their last eight wickets falling for 105 runs.
The hosts were bowled out on a score of 247, taking a lead of 23 runs. Prasidh Krishna finished with 4 for 62, while Mohammed Siraj claimed 4 for 86. India ended day two at 75 for 2 in their second innings, leading by 52 runs, with Yashasvi Jaiswal scoring an unbeaten 51.
