Gautam Gambhir Lashes Out at Oval Pitch Curator – What Sparked the Heated Argument?

July 29, 2025: Reports suggest that Gautam Gambhir, the head coach of India’s cricket team, and Lee Fortis, the chief curator at The Oval, got into a fight during Team India’s practice on Tuesday. Gambhir pointed fingers at Fortis and is said to have said, “You don’t tell us what to do,” and “You’re just a groundsman.” People have been sharing this video of the fight on social media since it happened. That’s all.

Before the last test, Gautam Gambhir and the Oval curator got into a fight over the practice pitch.
The brawl broke out while the Indian squad was getting ready for the fifth and last Test against England, which starts on Thursday. India aims to build on their stunning comeback to tie the fourth Test match in Manchester.

It wasn’t apparent what the argument was over at the time, but those who know claim that Gambhir and Fortis were probably arguing about the conditions of the practice fields that the Indian team was granted. In the video, it’s evident that Gambhir is upset and is having a big argument with Fortis. Sitanshu Kotak, India’s batting coach, rushes in to attempt to calm things down. Kotak and Fortis were seen discussing for a long period before they went their own ways. Then Gambhir came back to watch the net session.

This event made things tight again in a series that has been exceedingly close and often controversial.

While that was going on, Team India was working hard to get ready. Sai Sudharsan was one among the first players to come up for practice. He made 50 runs and then went out in the Manchester Test. People also saw Kuldeep Yadav, a left-arm wrist spinner, working hard during the training session.