India head coach Gautam Gambhir on Tuesday clashed with ground staff at the Oval ahead of the final cricket Test of an occasionally fractious series against England.
England lead the series 2-1, with the fifth Test to start today.
Video footage showed Gambhir in a confrontation with Lee Fortis, Surrey’s lead curator at the Oval in south London.
Photo: Reuters
Britain’s Press Association reported that Fortis was understood to have been keeping a protective eye on the square during India’s training session.
Gambhir, a 58-Test veteran, was seen wagging his finger as Fortis looked on, saying: “You can’t tell us what to do” and: “You don’t tell any of us what to do.”
Gambhir could also be heard adding: “You’re just the groundsman, nothing beyond.”
Photo: AP
After walking away in conversation with India batting coach Sitanshu Kotak, who appeared to take on the role of mediator, Fortis told Gambhir that he might be forced to lodge a complaint against him, drawing a response of “you can go and report to whoever you want.”
Kotak later told reporters that Fortis’ objections to a cooler being wheeled on to the square began the spat.
“He was sitting on the roller, he shouted and told the support staff not to take it there,” Kotak said. “It is good to be a little possessive and it is also good to be protective, but not that much. Gautam just said do not talk to the support staff like this.”
“At the end of the day it is a cricket pitch,” Kotak said. “It is not an antique where you can’t touch.”
Relations between the teams had been relatively serene until a time-wasting row midway through the third Test at Lord’s involving England batters Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett.
The fourth Test ended in rancor, with England captain Ben Stokes annoyed that Washington Sundar and Ravindra Jadeja declined his offer of an early handshake for a draw as they each pursued centuries.
Both teams were battling mental and physical fatigue heading into today’s potentially deciding match.
A congested schedule of five Tests in less than seven weeks has proved grueling, especially for the fast bowlers from both teams, with every match going the distance so far.
Remarkably, India can still end the series all square at 2-2 after salvaging an unlikely draw in the fourth Test at Old Trafford, keeping the hosts on the field for 143 overs in their second innings.
Jasprit Bumrah’s back injury earlier this year prompted India to announce the fast bowler would only feature in three games during the current series.
The world’s top-ranked Test bowler made his third appearance on a docile pitch in Manchester and has little time to recover after bowling 33 overs, during which he took two wickets.
However, Gambhir said that all of his squad’s quicks were fit for the finale, including Akash Deep, who took 10 wickets in Bumrah’s absence during India’s 336-run win in the second Test at Edgbaston before sustaining a groin injury in the next match at Lord’s.
England must decide whether to risk express paceman Jofra Archer, who has bowled nearly 90 overs in two Tests after more than four years of injury-enforced exile.
The home team took just four wickets on a flat Old Trafford pitch during India’s battling second innings, with seamer Brydon Carse also worked hard.
Jamie Overton has been added to an England squad that already has extra pace options in Josh Tongue and Gus Atkinson.
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