Gambhir in confrontation with Surrey ground staff

BBC News

2 days ago

India head coach Gautam Gambhir has been involved in a confrontation with Surrey ground staff during a training session before Thursday's fifth and final Test against England at The Oval.Video footage from the net session shows Gambhir pointing his finger at Lee Fortis, Surrey's head of ground staff, and the India coach can be heard shouting "you can't tell us what to do". Speaking in a news conference afterwards, India batting coach Sitanshu Kotak - who was present during the incident - said the coaches were inspecting the wicket for the Test, and were asked to move away. "When we were standing on the wicket looking at it, one of the ground staff came and said to stand two and half metres away from here. In my cricketing career I have never seen anybody saying that," said Kotak. "Literally he was saying that 'you can go outside the rope' to the head coach and see the wicket. I don't know how you can see. "If someone was brushing their shoes, or somebody is trying to put something on the wicket or somebody wearing spikes - if the curator feels that then fine - but it was a very strange way of saying it."
With no specific outdoor practice area, India used three practice wickets surrounded by nets close to the Test match pitch, which is standard procedure.BBC Sport asked Surrey for a comment but the club declined, though in a video Fortis later downplayed the incident, telling Indian media "there's nothing to speak about. There's nothing to hide here".The incident is the latest in a heated and competitive series between the two sides, with the fourth Test at Old Trafford ending with India refusing to shake hands for the draw early as Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar reached centuries. India skipper Shubman Gill also said England were acting "against the spirit of cricket" with time-wasting tactics during the third Test at Lord's.England lead the five-match series 2-1 and Ben Stokes' side are expected to make changes to the team from Manchester's draw, particularly to the bowling line-up after just three days in between Tests. Jamie Overton, Gus Atkinson and Josh Tongue are the spare quicks in the squad after Stokes struggled with various niggles. Chris Woakes and Brydon Carse have played all four matches so far and Jofra Archer has played back-to-back after making his comeback from a four-year injury absence.Meanwhile India will be without wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant because of a fractured foot and they also have a decision to make on pace bowler Jasprit Bumrah, who has played the maximum three Tests they stated he would before the series.
'Tension ramped up to The Oval finale' - reaction
Analysis from BBC Sport chief cricket reporter Stephan ShemiltGautam Gambhir and Lee Fortis are two forthright characters. In any disagreement, neither would be prepared to cede a blade of grass.It's another example of the high emotion in this series. First the tetchiness at Lord's, then the handshake handbags at Old Trafford, now this. The tension has been ramped up all the way to a live finale at The Oval. This is top-level sport where results matter and those involved care. It's little wonder things have spilled over on occasion.The Oval pitch will be in the spotlight from now on. Historically a place where spinners can expect lots of involvement, that has not been the case recently.There is some speculation England could leave out Liam Dawson. Under Ben Stokes they have been loathe to go into a Test without a frontline spinner - it's only happened once since he took charge.It could all depend on Stokes himself. Battered and bruised after Old Trafford, there are questions over what role he can play this week.If Stokes can bowl as part of a four-man seam attack, Dawson should play. If Stokes' bowling is limited, England might feel they need an extra seamer, so Dawson could miss out.