Follow UsIt is very often that you see someone as calm as Joe Root exchange a few fiery words in the middle. However, that is what happened on Day 2 of the Oval Test on August 1 (Friday) when Root responded to something Prasidh Krishna said.
Prasidh was in good rhythm after the wicket of Zak Crawley. The first ball he bowled to Root, the batter was rapped on the Glove by Prasidh, and then the next one straightened and beat him. That's perhaps when Prasidh told Root, "You are looking in great shape."
Harmless word, right? But not for Root, who did not take too kindly to it. The duo exchanged a barrage of words, with KL Rahul and Shubman Gill joining in. Umpire Kumar Dharmasena had to intervene to calm things down.
While Prasidh admits that there was a plan to rattle Root with a few words, he did not expect such a strong reaction from the senior batter. "I don't know why Rooty [reacted]," he 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."
Despite the exchange of words, Prasidh says he has nothing but respect for Root. "That's just who I am when I'm bowling, when I'm enjoying [my game]," he said.
"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."
England assistant coach Marcus Trescothick also admits to being surprised to see Root react the way he did. "I think they made a comment, didn't they?" Trescothick said after the day's play.
"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."
Another heated moment took place when Akash Deep got the better of Ben Duckett. The pacer dismissed the England opener and put his arm around him as he walked off the field. Duckett did not take too kindly to it, as his expression suggested.
Trescothick also believes that it was strange. "He didn't really say too much. Strange, really," Trescothick said.
"I don't think you really need to be putting your arm around someone, but nothing was really said, was it? You just don't really see it. We were chatting on the balcony there, and I know many good people playing in county cricket would have said something or dug the elbow in, or something like that."
India are in an excellent position in the Oval Test at the moment, having secured a lead of 52 runs with eight wickets in hand. Yashasvi Jaiswal (51*), who has batted beautifully so far, will look to convert this into a big one to help India to a series-levelling victory.