A few days ago, India’s head coach Gautam Gambhir and Lee Fortis, the pitch curator at the KIA Oval, got into a verbal altercation. India and England had a new episode together on the eve of the fifth and final Test match in the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy 2025, but this time it was not as bad.
Fortis approached the Indian team management and captain Shubman Gill while they were chatting close to the square. Even though Gautam Gambhir didn’t look back to listen, he murmured something to Gill. Gambhir nearly looked as though he ignored Fortis. Without glancing at the curator, the former India batter passed by.
Watch the following video:
Guess the conversation… https://t.co/8Fl1QJwiey
— Sandipan Banerjee (@im_sandipan) July 30, 2025
Earlier, during India’s training session on Tuesday, July 29, Gautam Gambhir and Fortis got into a furious argument.
According to reports, Fortis requested that the Indian squad stay at least 2.5 meters away from the main square. Sitanshu Kotak, India’s batting coach, later defended the team’s behaviour, pointing out that they wore joggers rather than spikes and were careful not to damage the pitch. Kotak had become a pacifier during the fight.
Currently, India is behind 1-2 in the five-match series. Although they lost at Lord’s and Headingley, the Men in Blue won at Edgbaston. After batting for over five sessions in the fourth Test, they displayed admirable tenacity to preserve a draw. With everything on the line going into the final Test match, which starts on Thursday, July 31, the series is in a precarious position.
With the absence of Ben Stokes, Jofra Archer, Liam Dawson, and Brydon Carse, England has made four lineup changes. Rishabh Pant’s services will be unavailable to India in the meantime. Because the management wants to control Jasprit Bumrah’s workload, he may not play in this test.
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