Prasidh Krishna ‘didn’t expect’ Joe Root to fire back after sledging, sets record straight: ‘This is what I am’

Prasidh Krishna lit up Day 1 of the fifth Test at The Oval with a spirited spell that rattled England’s middle order, but it was his brief confrontation with Joe Root that drew as much attention as the wickets. The usually calm Root appeared visibly animated during a face-off with Prasidh, which included a stern stare and a short exchange of words between the two. Joe Root responds to Prasidh Krishna in a heated exchange at the Oval(X)

Reflecting on the incident at the end of the day's play, however, Prasidh dismissed any talk of hostility, framing it as part of the natural edge that comes with high-stakes cricket.

"I think it was just a competitive edge amongst us that was coming out, both of us are good mates off the field," he said.

"It was just a little bit of banter, and both of us enjoyed it." He clarified that such moments stem from his nature as a bowler. "This is what I am. I think I was just running in well, I enjoyed the way that I was bowling, maybe a wicket or two there also would have made things better."

What stood out for the 28-year-old pacer was seeing Root react in a way that is rare for the England star. "I did not expect him to get animated,” Prasidh admitted. “But like I said, I love the guy, he is a legend of the game, and I think it is great when two people are out there trying to do the best and to be a winner at a given moment."

Prasidh's impressive outing

The exchange seemed to spark a fierce spell from Prasidh, who, alongside Mohammed Siraj, triggered a dramatic England collapse after the hosts were cruising with a quickfire 92-run stand for the first wicket. Zak Crawley’s dismissal opened the floodgates, and England went from 129/1 to 215/7 in no time. Prasidh returned figures of 4 for 62, matched by Siraj’s 4 for 83, as England folded for 247, claiming a slender 23-run lead.

Earlier in the day, India had been bowled out for 224 after a gritty 57 from Karun Nair and a useful 26 from Washington Sundar. The pair added 55 for the seventh wicket before Gus Atkinson (5/33) and Josh Tongue (3/57) cleaned up the tail.

By Stumps, India had erased the deficit and moved to 75/2 in their second innings, with Yashasvi Jaiswal unbeaten on 51 and night-watchman Akash Deep on 4. They will start Day 2 with a 52-run lead.

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