Tempers are flaring and things are getting spicier in the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy between India and England. The second day of the fifth and final Test at the Oval saw Joe Root and Prasidh Krishna having a crack at each other. The former England captain didn’t take kindly to the Indian pacer exchanging words with him as the former charged towards Prasidh after hitting him for a boundary. Things got so tense that the on-field umpires Ahsan Raza and Kumar Dharmasena intervened to have a word with both parties.
As Joe Root had a go at Prasidh Krishna, KL Rahul decided to stick up for his teammate and approached Kumar Dharmasena to find out what the fuss was all about. However, the Sri Lankan umpire did not like what the Indian opening batter had to say and reprimanded him for his tone.
KL Rahul asked Dharmasena whether the official just wants to see the Indian team batting and bowling and not doing anything else on the field. However, Dharmasena sided with Joe Root, saying a bowler cannot get so close and say things.
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The Indian opening batter continued to support Prasidh. However, the conversation ended after Dharmasena criticised Rahul for his tone, saying there would be a “discussion” about it once the match ended.
Here is the full chat between Joe Root and on-field umpire Kumar Dharmasena:
Rahul: What do you want us to do? Be quiet?
Dharmasena: You will like any bowler come and walk to you? No, you can’t do that. No, Rahul, we should not go on that way.
Rahul: What do you want us to do? Just bat and bowl and go home?
Dharmasena: We will discuss at the end of the match. You can’t talk like that.
Speaking of the ongoing Oval Test, the visitors staged a comeback in the second session of Day 2. Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett threatened to take the game away as the duo put on 92 runs for the opening wicket.
However, Mohammed Siraj brought all his experience into play as he took three wickets in a lengthy eight-over spell in the second session, dismissing Joe Root, Ollie Pope and Jacob Bethell.
Earlier, England won the toss and opted to bowl first. The hosts bundled out India for 224 in the first innings with Gus Atkinson scalping five wickets.
For India, Karun Nair was the best performer with the bat as he scored 57 runs off 109 balls.