WATCH: KL Rahul defends Prasidh Krishna amid altercation with Joe Root during first innings of ENG vs IND fifth Test

A verbal exchange between Prasidh Krishna and Joe Root caused a heated moment in the middle of The Oval. When Krishna and Root were engaged in heated verbal confrontation, KL Rahul walked into the scenario to stand up for his teammate. The act shown by Rahul won the hearts of Indian cricket fans. They found the moment as the perfect example of the senior player's captaincy skill. 

The incident was staged during the 22nd over of Day 2 of the England vs India 5th Test. In the 4th delivery, Prasidh Krishna's outswing just missed taking an edge from right-handed Joe Root. To create extra pressure, he extended his follow-up and threw some words to Root. In the following delivery, Krishna again targeted the area around the off stump; this time, the England batter easily guided the ball through the point region for a boundary. Again, Krishna said something to the batsman; in return, Root did not choose to hold back. 

The moment got heated by the exchange of words from those two cricketers. Umpire Kumar Dharmasena stepped into the occasion to ease the matter. Other Team India players also rushed into the spot. Captain Shubman Gill also reached there to inspect the situation, but he chose to stand only like an audience. 

Read More: [WATCH] ENG vs IND 5th Test: Ollie Pope bamboozled by Mohammed Siraj, DRS overruled on-field umpire decision

KL Rahul stood tall

At that moment, KL Rahul came forward to support his teammate Prasidh Krishna. Rahul simply was not happy about Dharmasena. The senior player of Team India told the umpire, and he did not hesitate to reflect his displeasure about the whole matter. 

KL RAHUL - A LEADER. 🔥

- Class KL leading India at The Oval at the moment.
https://t.co/UAaNOs8awV

— Tanuj (@ImTanujSingh) August 1, 2025

Despite a batting collapse, the Indian bowling department did well to pull their team back on the track. Mohammed Siraj took the wicket of Root. In a rain-delayed Day 2, Prasidh Krishna and Siraj displayed what they can do on a green deck under an overcast situation.