TimesofIndia.com in Manchester: India's head coach Gautam Gambhir was involved in a verbal altercation with The Oval's pitch curator Lee Fortis during India's optional training session on Tuesday, ahead of the final Test match against England. The incident occurred when Indian bowlers were marking their run-up areas in the nets, leading to a public confrontation between the two.
The situation escalated quickly before India's batting coach Sitanshu Kotak stepped in to diffuse the tension by pulling Fortis away, while Gambhir continued to express his displeasure from a distance.
Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW!Team India batting coach Sitanshu Kotak revealed the reason behind the heated argument.
"When we were looking at pitch, they asked us to stand 2.5m away. We were wearing joggers. It was very odd. Looking at wicket with rubber spike, nothing wrong. We see ground is not damaged. Its a pitch, not antique,” he told reporters.
"Curator yelled at support staff when they were getting ice box. Gambhir objected at that. The way he spoke irked Gambhir. Everyone knows curator at The Oval is not the easiest person to deal with," he said.
The batting coach also clarified that India is not going to lodge any official complaint against the curator.
The Oval Curator Lee Fortis presented his side of the story and has called India coach "bit touchy."
"You saw what he was like this morning. He's a bit touchy!," he told reporters.
"There's no side of the story. You'll have to ask him that," he added.
Fortis evaded multiple attempts at providing facts of what transpired between him and Gambhir. "I'm okay we've have got nothing to hide here," he said.
Tensions have simmered throughout the series, spilling over on multiple occasions. It began at Lord’s, where Shubman Gill visibly expressed his displeasure at England openers Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett arriving nearly 90 seconds late for their second innings.
The drama peaked in Manchester, where England, sensing an inevitable draw, offered to end play early. However, Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar declined, both approaching personal milestones. Their decision didn’t sit well with Ben Stokes and his teammates, triggering a verbal spat on the field.
The fifth and final Test of the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy will start from Thursday.
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