The build-up to the fifth and final Test between India and England has gotten underway on a sour note after head coach Gautam Gambhir was involved in a verbal spat with the pitch curator, Lee Fortis, at the Oval on Tuesday afternoon.
According to a report in the Times of India, the former India opener was not pleased with the facilities provided to the visitors two days ahead of the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy decider.
The conversation, which started off on a polite note, quickly turned aggressive as there was a lot of finger-pointing from Gambhir. He was even heard saying, “You don’t tell us what to do.”
The situation got so bad that Gambhir and Lee Fortis had to be separated as batting coach Sitanshu Kotak intervened. According to the Times of India report, the ground staff at the Oval have now threatened to file a report against the behaviour of the Indian head coach.
Lee Fortis made his intentions known to Gambhir; however, the latter was unfazed by the threat. He snapped back, saying, “You can go and report to whoever you want, but you can’t tell us what to do.”
As of now, it is not known what rubbed Gambhir the wrong way or why the India coach and pitch curator had a heated exchange of words. An Indian press conference is scheduled for later in the day, and it is likely that someone will come and explain the sequence of events.
England lead the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy 2-1, and India have a realistic chance of levelling the five-match series after registering a famous draw at Manchester against all odds.
Indian security team head summoned
The confrontation between Gambhir and the Oval groundstaff resulted in the summoning of the Indian team security head. India batting coach Sitanshu Kotak was also spotted explaining the incident to the Surrey media manager.
Earlier, after the conclusion of the Manchester Test, Gautam Gambhir had said that he was proud of his team’s effort in the fourth game of the five-match series.
“They want to fight for the common man back home. And the important thing is that the way a lot of people had written us off in this Test match, this is the foundation of this team,” Gambhir told reporters.
“These are characters who are sitting in this dressing room, wanting to fight for the country, and they will continue to do that,” he added.