Prasidh Krishna reveals 4-worded message that disrupted Joe Root at Oval; Indian pacer says ‘turned into a lot of abuse’

The fight between Prasidh Krishna and Joe Root has been the talking point of the fifth and final Test match against England at The Oval. Known as a calm and cool customer of the game, Root got disrupted by Krishna's words, something that surprised many including the former cricketers who failed to recall when was the last time the England batter reacted in such an aggressive manner. 

The incident stemmed on the 22nd over of England's first innings. Root, who came onto the the crease a couple of balls before, missed a delivery from Krishna on the bounce with him yet to get off the mark. On his follow-through, Krishna hurled a few words at Root. The Englishman to reverted back by coming down the pitch.

Things turned worse a few balls later in the over when Root hit a boundary to open his account and once again engaged in a war of words with the Indian pacer. Such was the intensity of the verbal battle that on-field umpire Kumar Dharmasena had to intervene and. Revealing how Krishna was able to break Root's concentration, the Indian pacer revealed it was a part of the plan to get under the skin of Root. 

“I don’t know why Rooty (reacted),” Krishna was quoted as saying to 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."