Advertisement
Advertisement
India captain Shubman Gill has thrown his support behind head coach Gautam Gambhir following a heated exchange with the Oval pitch head groundsman ahead of the fourth Test against England.
A day earlier, India’s head coach Gambhir was involved in a verbal spat with the pitch curator Lee Fortis. The curator raised concerns about the heavy footmarks and the training equipment on the main pitch.
In doing so, he suggested that the Indian team should view the pitch from 2.5 meters away from the strip. As a result, Gautam Gambhir was seen pointing his finger at Fortis.
“You don’t tell us what we need to do. You don’t tell us what we need to do, okay. You don’t need to tell us. You don’t tell any of my squad what we need to do.
You have no right to tell us. You’re just a groundsman; you stay in your capacity. You are just a groundsman, nothing beyond. You are just a groundsman,” Gautam Gambhir had said to Lee Fortis.
Now, Shubman Gill has commented on the incident, who was not present at the venue during the incident
“What happened yesterday, I thought was just absolutely unnecessary,” Gill said in the pre-match press conference.
He backed Gautam Gambhir, noting that the coach has every right to look at the pitch.
“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,” he added.
Shubman Gill said they had never received any instructions during a pitch inspection under certain circumstances.
“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,” Shubman Gill concluded.
For the unversed, India is trailing 2-1 in the five-match series against England, despite producing a memorable performance in the fourth Test in Manchester, which secured a draw.
The visitors will be eyeing a win in the final Test at the Oval, which is set to begin tomorrow, to level the series.
READ: Shahid Afridi trolls India Champions ahead of WCL 2025 semi-final
