'It is just a cricket pitch and not some antique piece that you cannot touch because it is 200 years old and it might break.'
India batting coach Sitanshu Kotak revealed that the altercation between head coach Gautam Gambhir and Oval's chief curator Lee Fortis happened after the visitors were asked to stand "2.5 metres from the wicket" while they were inspecting the pitch on Tuesday.
"Honestly, one of groundstaff came and said (that we were required to) stand 2.5 metre from the wicket and 'go outside the rope and see the wicket'. I have never seen something like that. It was quite awkward," Kotak said in the media conference at The Oval.
However, Kotak stated that the Indian team will not pursue the matter further.
"No complaint is needed for this," he added.
Kotak said the Indian squad members were not wearing spikes so there was no risk of danger to the pitch or surrounding areas.
"Before this game, we had an idea that the curator is not the easiest person to work with. Being possessive is good but no so much. We had joggers on, not spikes so there was no danger," he said.
"We know curators are a little overprotective and possessive about the square and the ground. There is nothing wrong with looking at a wicket wearing rubber spikes. You can be protective, but at the end of the day, it is just a cricket pitch and not some antique piece that you cannot touch because it is 200 years old and it might break," added the India batting coach.
Speaking to the media, Fortis said they had nothing to hide.
"It is not my job to be happy with him (Gambhir). I have never met him before today," he said.
The Oval will host the fifth and final Test between India and England from Thursday. The Indian team has hit the ground running with a practice session on Tuesday, two days after staging a remarkable comeback to draw the fourth match in Manchester to keep the series alive.
Gambhir was involved in a heated exchange of words with Fortis and was heard telling him "you don't tell us what we need to do" while pointing fingers at the groundstaff.
During the training session, an upset Gambhir getting into a verbal altercation with the curator, prompting Kotak to intervene and douse the situation.
The tiff started when Fortis told Gambhir: "I will have to report this" and to that the Indian head coach replied rather tersely: "You go and report whatever you want to report."
Kotak stepped in at this point, took the Englishman to a different corner and said: "We won't damage anything."
With England not scheduled to train on Monday, head coach Brendon McCullum and ECB managing director Rob Key came to see the pitch in casual clothes but Kotak said no instructions were issued to them from The Oval groundstaff.
According to Kotak, what made the situation worse was that Fortis shouted at one member of the Indian team support staff to not take the cooling box near the main square. Kotak also ruled out filing any complaint with the ECB over the incident.
"I was thinking that you will ask about the draw of the last match (laughs). No, when one of the support staff was bringing the cooling box there, still Fortis was sitting on the roller, he shouted and told the support staff not to take it there. Now the weight of that cooling box will be 10 kilos according to me.
"He said something like that from a distance that do not take the cooling box there. So, it is good to be a little possessive and it is also good to be protective, but not that much.
"So, then Gautam just said that do not talk to the support staff like this, because the support staff, we all come under the head coach. Any head coach will say that you cannot shout from there and say this.
"So, it was very normal. Then he came there and he was saying, I think it got built up from the wicket when we were watching. And to be very, very honest, if you want me to be very honest, before coming to Oval, most of the team knows that the curator is not the easiest person to get on with.
"And I am sure you also would be aware of it. So, that gives a lot of answers. No, I do not think there is any point in complaining," Kotan elaborated on the incident.
Surrey, the county that owns the stadium, did not give an official statement on the altercation but sources said the curator was only trying to protect the main square with the ground hosting more than 60 days of cricket in a season.
It was no surprise that most of the questions during Kotak's media interaction were related to the Gambhir-Fortis showdown.
"If somebody is trying to put something in the wicket or somebody is wearing spikes, the curator feels that it is fine. But it was a very strange way of saying you go and stand two and a half metres away from here.
"So, I think that is what started. Because Gautam is someone who does not even speak unnecessary things. He does not talk to anyone.
"Last four games we played, everywhere, wherever we go, all the curators where they talk, they even tell you when they are going to cut the grass, whether they are going to cut the grass. And if they do not want to give an answer, they will say, we will see on the weather, we will see tomorrow. So, that is a good answer.
"So, specifically the wicket will be used for the match. Gautam was trying to just take a look at it. And I was there. All coaches were there. So, I think looking at the wicket is not a bad thing with the joggers on," Kotak went on.
© 2025