Gautam Gambhir's conduct unbecoming of a head coach, but Oval curator Lee Fortis a difficult character to work with

Hindustan Times

3 days ago

At the start of the summer, England's head coach asked their players to improve their 'humility' after comments made by several players in the media came under scrutiny. Pacer Mark Wood acknowledged that they could be a 'bit dumb'. Gautam Gambhir was involved in a heated exchange with the Oval curator Lee Fortis. (HT_PRINT)
At Lord's a fortnight back, the same man who had called for humility indicted his wards for being 'too nice'. Brendon McCullum, the Mr. Nice Guy from New Zealand, had had enough of niceness; this Test series hasn't been the same again.
Things came to a head on the third evening at Lord's when Shubman Gill had a go at Zak Crawley for deliberate time-wasting tactics. The next day, when India finished needing 135 for victory with six wickets in hand, Washington Sundar said India would 'definitely' win the Test, 'perhaps by lunch'. When the left-hander walked out to bat on the final morning, McCullum exhorted his players from the balcony to start putting their lips to greater use.
England's childish, ungracious behaviour towards the end of the Manchester Test, with Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar turning down Ben Stokes' offer of a draw to pursue their individual hundreds, has cost the captain and his sullen side numerous fans. Even reputable English journalists and cheerleading former players have slammed the team's conduct.
Against this backdrop, the teams head to The Oval for the final act, which is due to begin on Thursday.
After their exertions with the ball – England bowled 257.1 overs at Old Trafford, the last 142 of which yielded just two wickets – the hosts took Tuesday off while India had an optional morning session, which should have been routine and regular. This, though, was anything but normal; the flashpoint was an unseemly standoff between head coach Gautam Gambhir and head of ground staff Lee Fortis, who has a reputation for being a difficult character to work with. Not that Gambhir doesn't, in reality.
From outside the boundary line, a lot of finger-pointing from Gambhir was obvious. An expletive-ridden rant by the coach, with liberal use of the 'f' word, could be heard from nearly 80 yards away. Shitanshu Kotak, the batting coach, acted as the pacifier, bringing his exquisite man-management skills into play, trying to keep his colleague from losing his cool entirely while also engaging Fortis in polite conversation. Gambhir's conduct was unbecoming of a head coach, but there had to be a backstory to his extreme reaction, right?
Gambhir is snappy and impatient at press conferences, often launching into answers without hearing out questions in their entirety. He repeatedly invokes the country, 140-crore Indians, and passion. He spews fire when he talks about picking the best players and not actually dropping anyone. His heart might be in the right place, but he is not everyone's cup of tea for his testy, testing behaviour. Even by his standards, though, Tuesday was a step too far.
But a step provoked, it transpires. Doesn't justify his flare-up, but when there is smoke, there usually is fire, too.
Fortis took exception to Gambhir and his support staff inspecting the match-pitch from close quarters. He is said to have, not with the utmost politeness, asked them to retreat 2.5 metres so that he could 'protect' his property. That was the first straw, especially considering he hadn't made a similar demand a little earlier of McCullum and Rob Key, the managing director of the England team. The one that broke the camel's back was a member of the support staff rolling an ice-cooler onto the square, at which point Fortis shouted loudly, rudely telling the said individual not to do so. That was when Gambhir lost his shirt, reminding Fortis of his 'capacity' by saying, 'You're just a groundsman, stay in your capacity.' It was an episode that didn't drape anyone in credit.
Kotak, who fronted up at the press conference, was honest, forthcoming, calm and unemotional. 'We went to see the wicket, and the coaches were standing there. They sent a man and told him to tell us to stand 2.5 metres away,' Kotak explained. 'That was a little surprising because from the day after, there is going to be a five-day Test match (on that pitch). We were standing wearing joggers (not spikes), so that was a little awkward.
'We have all played so much cricket. We know curators are a little overprotective, a little possessive about the square and ground,' Kotak went on unhurriedly. 'But just looking at the wicket with rubber spikes, just two days before a Test, there is nothing wrong. Curators also need to understand that the people they are talking to are highly skilled and intelligent people. If you go to the ground now where we practised, you will see that the outfield hasn't been marked with spikes from any of the bowlers. We try to ensure that all that comes from the head coach -- that we'll try and see that this ground should not get damaged. But if you sound a bit arrogant… You can be protective, but at the end of the day, it's a cricket pitch. It's not an antique that you can't touch because it's 200 years old, and it can be broken.'
Just about the only slices of sanity to emanate from a morning of madness. With potentially six more in store.