What is there this series hasn’t had so far? There have been on-field altercations, sledging, war of words off the field, and whatnot. But nothing more out of the blue than a spat between the groundsman and the visitors. Indian head coach Gautam Gambhir and the Oval groundsman Lee Fortis had a run-in two days before the fifth and final Test. Fortis was concerned about the presence of training gear and Indian team members on the main square. When he voiced his concerns, it led to a squabble between them.
Indian captain Shubman Gill, however, sided with his coach, calling the incident ‘absolutely unnecessary’ and saying the coach has every right to get a look at the surface up close.
“What happened yesterday, I thought was just absolutely unnecessary,” Gill said on the eve of the fifth Test. “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.”
Gill pointed out it wasn’t the first time the visitors were training near the surface, having already done so during the first four Tests where none of the groundsmen had restricted them.
“As long as I remember, we had never got any instructions. As long as you are wearing rubber spikes or [are] barefoot you can see the wicket from near,” he said. “We have played four matches already in this series, and nobody 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 came in hot due to the pressure of the series being on the line, especially with tensions running high between both sides, Gill denied it.
“Not really,” Gill said. “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. 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.”
Tensions during long series between England and India aren’t new, but many players say they only make the game more enjoyable. Gill shared the same belief, saying both teams hold mutual respect despite the seemingly heated moments on the field.
“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 said. “But once the match is over, there is mutual respect between both teams.”
