India head coach Gautam Gambhir was involved in a heated exchange of words with The Oval's chief curator Lee Fortis on Tuesday and was heard telling him “you don't tell us what we need to do”, while raising fingers at the ground staff.
The Oval will host the fifth and final Test between India and England from Thursday, and the Indian team is practising hard two days after staging a remarkable comeback to draw the fourth Test match in Manchester.
India batting coach Sitanshu Kotak said the altercation took place after the visitors were asked to stand “2.5 metres from the wicket”. However, he said the Indian team would not be filing any complaint. “Honestly, one of ground staff came and said that we were required to stand 2.5 metre from the wicket and ‘go outside the rope and see the wicket’. I have never seen something like that,” Kotak told the media.
Kotak said the Indian squad members were not wearing spikes, so there was no element of danger to the surface. “Before this game, we had an idea that the curator is not the easiest person to work with. Being possessive is good, but not so much. We had joggers on not spikes,” he said.
During the training session, videos that have now gone viral on social media clearly showed an upset Gambhir getting into a verbal altercation with the curator, prompting Kotak to intervene and douse the situation.
The verbal exchange started when Fortis told Gambhir: “I will have to report this:. To this, the Indian head coach said rather tersely: “You go and report whatever you want to report.” Kotak stepped in at this point, took the Englishman to a corner and said: “We won't damage anything.” Other Indian support staff like bowling coach Morne Morkel and assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate were seen listening keenly to the argument. Gambhir and Fortis appeared to be arguing over the conditions of the pitches for practice.
However, Gambhir turned back again to tell Fortis that he should not be telling his side “what to do”. “You can't tell us what to do. You are just one of the groundsmen, nothing beyond,” Gambhir was seen saying in the video. Fortis and Gambhir then went their ways with the India coach returning to oversee the net session. Later while walking from the field to his room, Fortis said: “It's a big game, and Gambhir is a bit touchy.”
Meanwhile, Sai Sudharsan, who hit a half-century and a duck in the Manchester Test, was the first one to arrive at the venue for practice, where left-arm wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav was also seen practising. Left-arm pacer Arshdeep Singh too was seen in action.
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