Coach has every right to look at pitch: Gill backs Gambhir

LONDON: India captain Shubman Gill threw his weight behind Gautam Gambhir following his fiery exchange with The Oval’s chief curator Lee Fortis, firmly asserting that the India coach was well within his rights to inspect the square.

During India’s training session on Tuesday, Fortis, according to batting coach Sitanshu Kotak, asked the Indian coaching staff to stay 2.5 metres away from the main pitch square, despite them not wearing spikes, prompting frustration from the visiting camp.

Gambhir was heard saying, “You don’t tell any of us what we need to do… you have no right to tell us. You are just a groundsman, nothing beyond.”

When Gill was asked about the tiff on the eve of the final Test, the skipper replied: “What happened yesterday (Tuesday) was unnecessary.”

“If a pitch curator is going to come and ask us to not look at the wicket and look at the wicket from three metres from behind, that is not something that has happened to us before.

“We have been playing cricket for such a long time. And like I said, as long as you are under upper spikes or you are barefoot, you are allowed to look at the wicket from close quarters. And that is the job of the coach and the captain. So, I don’t know why the curator didn’t let us or didn’t allow us to do that.”

Asked whether the England hospitality have not met the expectations considering the constant on-field tensions, Gill replied: “No, nothing of that sort. I think these are three very separate movements, not correlated at all.

“I think I have already explained what happened at Lord’s and about even the incident that happened on the last day in the previous Test match. I have given my thoughts and opinions on that.

“And what happened yesterday, I thought, is just absolutely unnecessary. I mean, it’s not the first time that we were having a look at the wicket. And we have been here for almost, I think, two months,” he said.

“And like I said, a coach has every right to be able to go close quarters and have a look at the wicket. And I didn’t think that there was anything wrong with that. I actually don’t know why the curator would not allow us to go have a look at the wicket,” said Gill.

The India captain said there were no such instructions by curators of other venues in England.

“No sir, as long as I remember, there is no such instruction. As long as you are wearing rubber spikes and you are bare feet, I think you can see the wicket closely.”