The fifth and final Test between India and England is around the corner. Shubman Gill’s team has a chance of levelling the five-match series after walking away with a memorable draw at Manchester. The Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy decider is just two sleeps away, but ahead of the marquee contest, sparks flew on Tuesday afternoon after India head coach Gautam Gambhir was involved in a heated spat with the chief pitch curator, Lee Fortis.
At the venue, there was a lot of finger-pointing from Gambhir after the former India opening batter got really upset over something. Batting coach Sitanshu Kotak also jumped in as he, too, had an animated chat with Fortis.
Gambhir was even heard telling the curator, “You don’t tell us what we need to do. You can’t tell any one of us what we need to do. You are just a groundsman, stay like a groundsman.”
At this stage, it is not known what the issue was, but something definitely rubbed Gambhir the wrong way, after which he did not take a backward step. Fortis was then also seen having a lengthy discussion with Kotak, possibly explaining his stance.
At first, the pitch curator walked away from Gambhir to speak with Kotak. However, the Indian head coach did not shy away from voicing his opinion and pointed fingers to give Fortis a piece of his mind. Finally, Fortis and Gambhir went their own ways, with the India coach returning to overseeing the training session.
