Gautam Gambhir vs Oval Pitch Curator: Lee Fortis Draws Flak For 'Double Standards' After Spat

Gautam Gambhir clashed with Oval curator Lee Fortis during India’s practice after being told to stay off the pitch. Outrage erupted as old images showed Fortis on the pitch with England coach Brendon McCullum during the Ashes, fuelling bias claims.

Ahead of the fifth and final Test between England and India at The Oval, starting on Thursday, a major controversy erupted when Gautam Gambhir got into a heated altercation with the venue’s pitch curator during the visitors’ practice session on Tuesday, July 29.

With the series currently at 2-1 in favour of England, Team India will head into The Oval Test with an aim of levelling the series after salvaging a dramatic draw in the fourth Test at Old Trafford in Manchester. As Team India prepares for the series decider, tensions began to flare as Gautam Gambhir was involved in a heated verbal exchange with the pitch curator, Lee Fortis.

During the visitors’ first practice session, Gambhir was seen visibly furious at Fortis, who had a word with the 44-year-old, which did not get entertained by his typically intense and no-nonsense demeanour. In a video that went viral on social media, Team India head coach can be seen angrily talking to Lee Fortis.

Gambhir reportedly told Fortis, ‘You don’t tell us what to do. You’re just a groundsman; stay in your capacity.’ further escalating the altercation between thetwo

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.

Fortis asked Gambhir to stay ‘2.5 metres’ away from the pitch

The heated exchange between Gambhir and Fortis grabbed the attention of fans and experts alike. Since the incident gained much attention before the series decider, Team India's batting coach issued a clarification, stating that the pitch curators rudely asked the head coach to stay away from the pitch, which was found unnecessary, triggering an angry reaction from Gautam Gambhir.

“We were standing on the pitch and looking at it, and one of the ground staff came and told us to stand 2.5 metres away from it,” Kotak said at the press conference.

“In my cricketing career, I’ve never seen anybody saying that. He was literally telling the head coach to go outside the rope (that cordons off the pitch). I don’t know how you can see it (from there).

“If somebody is rubbing his shoes or trying to put something in the pitch or wearing spikes, then it’s fine. But it was very strange the way he said, ‘You go and stand 2.5 metres away from here’. I think that is what started it,” he added.

Lee Fortis ‘Double Standards’ get exposed

After the heated altercation with Team India head coach Gautam Gambhir over standing too close to the pitch, Lee Fortis got exposed with his ‘double standards’ on social media.

Following the controversy, the picture of Fortis and England coach Brendon McCullum from the 2023 Ashes at The Oval went viral on social media, wherein they both were seen standing on the and having a casual conversation, drawing criticism from the fans and experts who not only accused Lee Fortis of double standards but also bias and applying different rules for the home and visiting teams.

Reportedly, it was not the first time that the Oval Pitch curator Lee Fortis had issues with the visiting teams. In the past as well, Fortis’s similar confrontations were reported with other touring teams to England. His over-protective approach to the pitch has often led to friction with the touring teams.

Most recently, it was reported that the Indian women’s team, led by Harmanpreet Kaur, had issues with Lee Fortis after a clash with them during the clash against England at The Oval. However, the details of the incident are sparse.

Meanwhile, the England and Wales Cricket Board has not issued an official statement as the Oval Test staff threatened to file a complaint against Gautam Gambhir.