During a training session on Tuesday, July 29, Shubman Gill stood up for Indian coach Gautam Gambhir after he got into a heated argument with Lee Fortis, the pitch curator at The Oval. The Indian team management’s careful inspection of the surface for the fifth and final Test match against England, which begins on Thursday, July 31, did not sit well with Fortis.
India was instructed by the Surrey head groundskeeper to stand 2.5 meters from the pitch in order to examine it. A furious Gambhir was observed accusing Fortis of being “just a groundsman” and pointing a finger at him.
“I felt that yesterday’s events were completely needless. We have been looking at the wicket for over two months, so this is not the first time. I didn’t think there was anything improper with a coach having the right to go up close and examine the wicket. During the news conference before the game, Shubman Gill stated, “I truly don’t understand why the curator would not let us go take a look at the wicket.”
At the four earlier locations in the series—Headingley, Edgbaston, Lord’s and Old Trafford—no other curator had placed any limitations on India’s access to the pitch or square, Shubman Gill recalled.
“As far as I can recall, we never received orders. You may see the wicket from a distance as long as you are barefoot or wearing rubber spikes. In this series, we have already played four games, and no one has prevented us from seeing the field. We’ve all played a lot of cricket and visited the fields numerous times, including the captain and coaches. I’m not sure why there was such a fuss,” Gill continued.
When a team falls behind in a series, it can be easy for the players and management to lose their minds. Gill was questioned about whether Gambhir’s impassioned response was due to the strain of being 1-2 behind in the five-match series. The Punjab batter refuted this, though.
“Not at all. It has never happened to us before that a pitch curator would come and tell us to look at the wicket from three meters behind instead of looking at it directly. We have been playing cricket for a very long time, and you are permitted to observe the wicket up close as long as you are barefoot or wearing rubber spikes. “The coach and the captain are responsible for that,” Gill said.
Shubman Gill describes his relationship with the England squad.
Over the first four Test matches, there have been some intense disagreements between the Indian and English players. Ravindra Jadeja declined a handshake and kept batting until he and Washington Sundar reached their hundreds in the most recent match, leaving England captain Ben Stokes furious.
Shubman Gill stated that although there have been a number of heated arguments, the two sides have a great connection; they simply don’t give each other a footing on the pitch.
“The relation is fantastic, but when you are on the pitch, you are trying to win a game at the end of the day, and both the teams have been very competitive and sometimes when you are competitive in the heat of the moment, you do or say things that you might not do,” he stated. “But once the match is over, there is mutual respect between both teams,” Gill stated.
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