London: India head coach Gautam Gambhir was Tuesday involved in a heated exchange of words with the Oval’s chief curator Lee Fortis and was heard telling him “you don’t tell us what we need to do” while pointing fingers at the groundstaff.
The Oval will host the fifth and final Test between India and England from Thursday, and the Indian team has hit the ground running two days after staging a remarkable comeback to draw the fourth 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 will 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 later.
“No complaint is needed for this,” he added.
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 no so much. We had joggers on (and) not spikes so there was no danger,” 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 tiff started when Fortis told Gambhir: “I will have to report this” and to that the Indian head coach replied rather tersely: “You go and report whatever you want to report.”
Kotak stepped in at this point, took the Englishman to a different corner and said: “We won’t damage anything.”
Other Indian support staff such as bowling coach Morne Morkel and assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate were seen listening keenly to the argument.
While it was not clear why the two got into an 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 telling in the video.
Fortis and Gambhir then went their separate 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 he (Gambhir) is a bit touchy.”
Meanwhile, Sai Sudharsan, who registered 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 putting in some hard yards.
Left-arm pacer Arshdeep Singh too was seen bowling under the watchful eyes of Morkel.
