The Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy has already had a lot of spice, and things are getting spicier with each passing minute. The second day of the fifth and final Test between India and England saw Joe Root and Prasidh Krishna going at each other as the duo exchanged words with no one taking a back seat. Soon, the on-field umpires had to intervene to separate the two. Quite contrary to his calm nature, the England No.4 was aggressive right from the very start, and he didn’t take kindly to the verbals thrown by Prasidh as he was running into the bowl.
It all started with Prasidh having a word or two to say to Joe Root on the fifth ball of the 22nd over. Then, on the very next delivery, the England batter smashed the pacer for a boundary. More words were exchanged as Root and Prasidh had a go at each other.
The umpires got involved as well, and the rest of the Indian players also came charging in to add spice to the conversation. When Root was speaking to the on-field umpire Ahsan Raza, Mohammed Siraj was standing nearby, observing the chatter.
“It’s highly unusual to see Joe Root as animated as he was in that moment. Quite a cheery soul, but not on that occasion,” said former England captain Michael Atherton on air.
Former Team India head coach Ravi Shastri said that with Root being aggressive, the visitors will get a clear message about his intentions.
Also Read: Washington Sundar refuses to leave the crease after getting dismissed by Gus Atkinson, Ponting blames India all-rounder
“Both teams fired up. What it would really do is send a clear message to India that there would be a clear intent from Joe Root. He will be looking to score and looking to be more positive,” said Shastri.
“There is a sense of purpose, even when he walked back to his guard. You can see that in his eyes,” he added.
India stage comeback
India, led by Shubman Gill, staged a comeback in the second session on Day 2 after Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett smashed them all around the park in the morning session. Right after the lunch break, India got the wickets of Crawley (64) and Ollie Pope (22).
The first wicket for India came in the morning session as Akash Deep dismissed Ben Duckett for 42. Earlier, India were bundled out for 224 in the first innings after Gus Atkinson returned with a five-wicket haul.
Karun Nair top-scored for India as he played a knock of 57 runs off 109 balls.
Earlier, England’s stand-in captain Ollie Pope won the toss and opted to bowl.
