The incident occurred during the first training session of India at the oval.
Earlier in the day, Gautam Gambir made the headlines. The reason? Well, he entered a heated verbal altercation with the chief commissioner of the oval cricket soil, Lee Fortis. There were a lot of Gambir finger tips. Some allege that the Indian head coach has even cursed in Fortis. Support staff even threatened to report Gambir.
Managers of England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) were involved. Fortis even called Gambir ‘A little delicate’ later. But what was the problem? According to the coach of the strikers of India, Sitanshu Kotak, the whole case occurred because of Fortis.
He says that the curator shouted to the members of the support staff when they approached the field, and that is what upset Gambir, and that is why, in the now viral video, he shouted, “You can’t tell us what to do!” in Fortis.
Why does Gambir & Oval Pitch Curator fight?
The curator did not want the Indian players or the support staff to approach the field. He wanted to push even more grass on it and opposed it to get closer. Kotak shared that they did not wear shoes with points and could not have damaged the ground.
“When we had a conversation near the field. They had sent a man to send us a message to stay 2.5 m from the ground. We wear joggers. We know that the conservatives are possessive on the square. What he said about the head coach is his opinion, and I don’t want to comment. We did not hurt anything; We wear rubber tips.
People are highly qualified and intelligent. None of the quisors even wore tips. You can be protective but not arrogant. It is not an antiquity that you cannot touch. He said we are trying to grow the grass. At the end of the day, it’s a cricket field, “ Kotak told reports to the oval.
Gambir was threatened with an official complaint against him. Kotak was asked if Team India would report the question, and the hoard of the strikers said no.
“The curator shouted to the support staff when he got the ice box. Gambir said he couldn’t speak like that. Everyone knows that the oval curator is not the easiest to manage. We will not file any complaints”, “ He added.
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For those who dont understand – pitch curation is crucial for home advantage. Teams been doing this for decades. England does it, Australia does it, why shouldn’t India? The strategic element people missing here is that understanding pitch behavier gives batsmen confidence going into match. Gambhir experience as player who played in England multiple times make him valuable asset in this discussion.
Absolutely brilliant strategy!! Love this approach
Of course the Indian coach wants to influence pitch. Cant win fair so need every advantage possible. Typical modern cricket politics ruining the game
So Gambhir now expert in everything? Cricket coach, pitch curator, probably does team laundry too in spare time. What a talented man! Should also try brain surgery next, seems qualified for everything. 🙄
Good article. Cleared many doubt I was having about this situation. Thanks for sharing!
This is complete nonsense. Gambhir has no business being pitch curator, he’s a coach not groundsman. What next, he gonna sell tickets too? Poor journalism tbh.
Wow, so the ‘baton coach’ reveals the reason. How conveniant. Next week the physio will reveal team selection process and the bus driver explain DRS reviews. This is what cricket has become?
Everyone missing the real point here – collaboration between coaches and ground staff actually common practice in modern cricket. The issue is transparency. If its happening, atleast now we know about it. Better than secret discussions behind close doors.
So wait, we’re just accepting that coaches can interfer with pitch now? Where do we draw the line? Tomorrow they’ll be choosing umpires too. This set dangerous precedent for cricket integrity.
This doesnt add up at all. The Oval has their own ground staff who been working there for years. Why would they listen to visiting team coach? Something fishy about whole story.
Oh yes, because Gambhir known for his pitch expertise from his extensive groundskeeping career… oh wait, that never happened. But sure, let’s pretend this normal.
LMAO Gambhir probably just standing there pointing at grass saying ‘need more spin here’ while curator trying not to laugh. Can you imagine? 😂 Also love how article call him ‘bâton coach’ like he conducting orchestra not cricket team hahaha
Finally someone explaining this properly! I was so confuse about why Gambhir was involve with pitch preparation. This makes lot of sense now, the batton coach know what he talking about.