The fifth and final Test of the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy at The Oval saw tempers flare on Day 2, following a heated incident involving Joe Root and Prasidh Krishna. What began as a verbal spat between the England batter and the Indian pacer soon escalated, pulling in senior member of the team KL Rahul and on-field umpire Kumar Dharmasena.
On-field tensions boil over
The confrontation began after Root struck Krishna for a boundary. Unhappy with a comment from the bowler, Root turned and walked toward him in protest. The situation grew tense enough that on-field umpires Ahsan Raza and Kumar Dharmasena had to intervene and speak with both players in an effort to calm things down.
In the aftermath, KL Rahul stepped in to back his teammate, approaching Dharmasena for clarification. However, the conversation quickly turned tense, with Rahul questioning the umpire’s approach and defending the Indian players’ right to express passion and competitiveness on the field. KL may face reprecssions due to this behavior with Umpire.
According to reports, the verbal exchange unfolded as follows:
KL Rahul: What do you want us to do? Be quiet?
Kumar 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.
KL Rahul: What do you want us to do? Just bat and bowl and go home?
Kumar Dharmasena: We will discuss at the end of the match. You can’t talk like that.
KL Rahul to Dharmasena:
“What do you want us to do, keep quiet?
“What do you want us to do, bat bowl and go home?”KL Rahul came to save Prasidh Krishnapic.twitter.com/a6la9HvZB5
— Farrago Abdullah Parody (@abdullah_0mar) August 1, 2025
Despite Rahul’s continued support for Krishna, Dharmasena warned him that his tone was unacceptable and stated the matter would be addressed after the game. It is yet to be seen if this was just to end the things straightaway or was Dharmasena serious.
India fight back with the ball
Earlier in the match, India had been dismissed for 224 in their first innings. England looked to take control with a solid opening partnership of 92 between Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett. However, Mohammed Siraj turned the tide with a brilliant spell, taking three key wickets of Joe Root, Ollie Pope, and Jacob Bethell during a crucial eight-over burst. England was bowled out for 247, taking a narrow 23-run lead. India on the other hand started their innings with a flurry of boundaries led by Yashasvi Jaiswal. While KL Rahul looked out of sorts in this innings Jaiswal scored a ravishing half century and is still unbeaten on the crease. Sai Sudharsan in the last innings of this series failed to capitalize getting dismissed on 11. India are currently 75-2 with 52 runs lead going into Day 3.
