ENG vs IND, 5th Test: Gautam Gambhir Involved in a Heated Argument with the Oval Pitch Curator (WATCH)

Indian coach Gautam Gambhir and Oval pitch curator Lee Fortis clashed ahead of the final Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy Test, days after Ben Stokes's controversial draw offer in Manchester, heightening tensions before the high-stakes series finale.

Team India head coach Gautam Gautam was involved in an angry altercation with the pitch curator of The Oval ahead of the fifth and final match of the ongoing Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy, which will start on Thursday, July 31.

Team India travelled to Kennington in London after the fourth Test in Manchester ended in a draw, with the visitors looking to level the series 2-2 at The Oval, where they last lost to Australia in the 2021 World Test Championship (WTC) Final.

In the Manchester Test, Team India pulled off a hard-fought draw after resilient batting in the second innings, led by Ravindra Jadeja (107*), Shubman Gill (103), Washington Sundar (101*), and KL Rahul (90, who guided the visitors to 425/4 from 0/2 and took a 114-run lead before before the match concluded as a draw.

With the Manchester Test ending in a draw, Team India will head into the Oval Test to level the series and salvage pride in what has been a fiercely contested series of the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy.

‘Don't tell us what we need to do’

As Team India prepares for the crucial Test, which is called the series finale of the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy 2025, head coach Gautam Gambhir had a verbal exchange with the Oval pitch curator during the visitors’ practice session.

In a video that went viral on social media, Gambhir was overseeing India’s first practice session at the venue when he was approached by the pitch curator Lee Fortis. Fortis was seen near India’s practice session and had a word with Gambhir. However, the Indian head coach did not entertain what pitch curator said.

Gambhir was visibly furious and angrily told Lee Fortis, ‘You don't need to tell us what we need to do’, which escalated to a verbal altercation between the two.

This incident came after a few days following England skipper Ben Stokes’s controversial decision to request a draw when Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar were nearing centuries. Jadeja politely declined Stokes’s request for a draw until he and Sundar completed their centuries. The match was declared a draw after the two left-handed all-rounders completed their centuries.

Ben Stokes’s decision to offer a draw before Jadeja and Sundar completed their centuries sparked debate among experts, questioning the spirit and timing of the gesture, especially in a Test match where momentum had already shifted towards India’s favour.

The Oval Pitch Curator speaks on spat with Gambhir

The spat between Lee Fortis and Gautam Gambhir grabbed the attention of netizens before the Oval Test, setting the stage for a high-voltage finale in the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy.

Speaking to the reporters at The Oval Ground, Fortis downplayed the incident, stating that he had not met Gambhir before and was bothered by the heated spat. He added that there was nothing from his side.

“It is quite a big game coming up. It is not my job to be happy with him (Gautam Gambhir) or not. I have never met him before today. You saw what he was like this morning. It's okay, I am fine. We have nothing to hide.” Fortis said.

The ongoing Test series between India and England has already seen a few heated moments, including a verbal spat between Shubman Gill and Zak Crawley over England opener’s deliberate ‘time wasting’ tactics at Lord’s and Ben Stokes’s controversial draw offer on the Day of the Manchester Test, which many believed was a deliberate attempt to deny Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar well-deserved centuries.