The lead-up to India and England’s thrilling Test series finale at the Oval witnessed a heated exchange between the visiting head coach Gautam Gambhir and the ground’s pitch curator Lee Fortis, grabbing all the eyeballs. Former Australia opener Matthew Hayden remarked that Gambhir could have communicated his sentiment more effectively, while also criticising the command held by curator Fortis at the London venue.
During one of the preparatory sessions at the ground ahead of the fifth Test, Gambhir was heard telling Fortis with a pointed finger: “You don’t tell any of us what we need to do. You have no right to tell us, you’re just a groundsman, nothing more.”
“This is a typical case in England. It is a bit of a flex, here we are, final Test match, this is my venue, and they are going to try and make it difficult on Gautam Gambhir. But I think he’s got every right to tone it down. He could have used better language. But the reality is, his team is trying to train ahead of the most important Test match,” Hayden said on ‘All Over Bar The Cricket’.
The Indian team management didn’t mince words at The Oval. Batting coach Sitanshu Kotak, who was close to the action and played the pacifier when an animated Gambhir was talking to Fortis, gave details about the net session altercation.
“When we went to see the pitch, we were asked by someone to keep a 2.5-metre distance. This was surprising. The Test would be in a few days and we were wearing joggers. So it felt a bit odd. We all have been on the ground enough, we have played so much cricket. Curators are possessive about the ground and the square but they need to understand that they are speaking to highly skilled and intelligent people,” Kotak said.
Former Australia all-rounder Greg Blewett also agreed with Hayden’s perspective, affirming that Gambhir should have made a better choice of words.
“I agree. Even now, even as a commentator, you get near the pitch and everyone is saying you can’t get anywhere near it and you’re like I haven’t got spikes on. It is quite ridiculous. I get the frustration. But I agree that the language that he used wasn’t great. If he reflects, he could have probably handled it a little better,” he added.
