In a heated conversation with the Oval curator prior to the pivotal fifth Test, former Australian opener Matthew Hayden believes India head coach Gautam Gambhir could have used a more subdued tone, but he also pointed out that it was a normal instance of an English groundsman claiming control of the field.
Prior to the fifth Test, Gambhir got into a furious argument with Lee Fortis, the chief curator at the Oval, during which he told him “you don’t tell us what we need to do” and criticised the groundstaff.
“They (curators) can get pretty protective about the surfaces. 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,” Hayden said on ‘All Over Bar The Cricket’.
“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 added.
Trailing 2-1 after the fourth Test, India needed a victory in the final match to level the five-match Anderson–Tendulkar Trophy series.
India eventually won the series’ last game by a narrow margin of six runs in an exciting fashion.
Sitanshu Kotak, the batting coach for India, claims that the altercation started when Fortis infuriated the visiting team by ordering the Indian coaching staff to stay 2.5 meters away from the main square even though they were not wearing spikes.
Gambhir replied “You don’t tell any of us what we need to do… you have no right to tell us. You are just a groundsman, nothing beyond.”
