Oval pitch curator 'yelled' at Team India; Gautam Gambhir objected to it: 'The way he spoke really irked the head coach'

Here's exactly what happened between the Indian head coach Gautam Gambhir and the pitch curator at the Oval, Lee Fortis.

The Oval turned into a battleground on Tuesday as India head coach Gautam Gambhir got into a long and heated exchange with the pitch curator Lee Fortis after being unhappy with something during a training session. A Test series that already heated up after Shubman Gill's outburst and Zak Crawley and Ben Stokes' handshake drama a couple of days ago, just got more intense when Gambhir and Fortis were at loggerheads 48 hours before the start of the fifth and final Test of the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy.

Gautam Gambhir was involved in a heated exchange with the Oval curator. (BCCI - X)

Fresh details have now emerged on the fiasco, with India batting coach Satanshu Kotak claiming that Gambhir's strong reaction was in fact a retaliation to Fortis firing the first shots. The Oval pitch curator was not pleased with some members of the squad carrying drinks to the field and thus shouted at them. That, along with a warning to stay at some distance from the pitch, triggered Gambhir, who is all about standing up for his players. During the 2023 IPL bust-up with Virat Kohli, Gambhir's anger stemmed from his defence of Naveen ul Haq, and two years later, little has changed.

"The curator yelled at the support staff when they were getting the ice box. Gambhir objected to it and said, 'You cannot talk to my players like that'. The way he spoke irked Gambhir. Everyone knows that the curator at The Oval is not the easiest person to deal with," Kotal said during India's first press conference ahead of the fifth Test.

"When we went to see the wicket, when the coaches stood near it, he [Fortis] sent someone who told us to stay 2.5 meters away from the pitch. Which was a little surprising. Because it's a Test wicket. A five-day Test match will begin from the day after tomorrow. We were all wearing joggers, not real spikes. It was very odd. Looking at the wicket with a rubber spike is not wrong. We see that the ground is not damaged. It's a pitch, not an antique."

'It's a pitch, not some piece of antique'

During the heated chapter, Fortis also threatened India that he would file a complaint against Gambhir, but the head coach couldn't care less. However, India decided to be the bigger team and informed that they wouldn't be taking any action against Fortis or any ground staff at the Oval.

Still, Kotak condemned Fortis' behaviour, almost reminding him that the Indian team is not a bunch of amateurs who aren't aware of protocols. They are all professionals and, of course, aware that stepping on or getting close to the pitch with actual spikes is dangerous territory.

"We have all been on the ground enough and played a lot of cricket. And we all know that curators are a little overprotective or possessive about the square and ground and all. But I think that just looking at the wicket wearing rubber spikes, there is nothing wrong. The curator also needs to understand that the people they are talking to are highly skilled and intelligent," India's batting coach said.

"If you go on the ground now, where we practiced, you won't see a single bowler marking his run-up with spikes. And that comes from the head coach. So when you are working with such people, if you sound a bit arrogant and come across like it. At the end of the day, it's a cricket pitch and not some antique that you can't touch. We will not be lodging any complaints."