Follow UsTempers flared ahead of the fifth Test in the Anderson-Tendulkar trophy when the Indian head coach Gautam Gambhir had a heated argument with the leading groundsman at The Oval, Lee Fortis, who was preventing team India from having a look at the pitch by going near it on Tuesday.
Fortis was concerned with India’s movement on the square with training equipment on it, and according to the reports, suggested that team India view the pitch while being 2.5 metres away, which didn’t sit right with the Indian head coach, who reminded Fortis that he was “just a groundsman”.
Speaking about the incident in the press conference ahead of the last Test, the Indian skipper questioned the actions of Fortis and said that it was absolutely unnecessary.
“What happened yesterday, I thought was just absolutely unnecessary," Shubman Gill said, as quoted by ESPNCricinfo.
"It's not the first time that we were having a look at the wicket, we have been there for almost two months. A coach has every right to be able to go close quarters and have a look at the wicket and I didn't think there was anything wrong with that. I actually don't know why the curator would not allow us to go have a look at the wicket.
“As long as I can remember, we had never received any instructions. As long as you are wearing rubber spikes or are barefoot, you can see the wicket from near," he added.
“We have played four matches already in this series, and nobody has stopped us from watching the pitch. All of us have played so much cricket, we have gone to the pitches so many times, including the coaches and captain, I don't know what the fuss was about.”
When asked if Gambhir’s response was a function of India’s position in the series, which led him to vent out his frustration on the groundsman, Gill denied these claims and also added that despite the on-field friction on some occasions, the Indian team have shared great relationship with the English team, and there’s no thorn between them.
"If a pitch curator is going to come and ask us to not look at the wicket and look at the wicket from three metres behind, that's not something that has happened to us before,” the Indian skipper said.
“We've been doing cricket for such a long time and as long as you are wearing rubber spikes or are barefoot, you are allowed to look at the wicket from close quarters. That's the job of the coach and the captain.”
“The relation is fantastic, but when you are on the field, you are trying to win a game at the end of the day, and both the teams have been very competitive and sometimes when you are competitive in the heat of the moment, you do or say things that you might not do," he added on the relationship between India and England.
"But once the match is over, there is mutual respect between both teams.”
England are 2-1 ahead in the series going into the last Test at the Oval.