India head coach clashes with ground staff member at the Oval ahead of series decider vs England

LONDON (AP) — India head coach Gautam Gambhir clashed Tuesday with ground staff at the Oval cricket stadium ahead of the final test match of an occasionally fractious series against England.

England leads the series 2-1. The fifth test starts Thursday.

Video footage showed Gambhir in a confrontation with Lee Fortis, Surrey’s lead curator at the Oval in south London. Britain’s Press Association said that Fortis was understood to have been keeping a protective eye on the square during India’s training session.

Gambhir, a 58-test veteran, was seen wagging his finger as Fortis looked on, stating: “You can’t tell us what to do” and “You don’t tell any of us what to do.”

Gambhir can also be heard adding, “You’re just the groundsman, nothing beyond.”

After walking away in conversation with India batting coach Sitanshu Kotak, who appeared to take on the role of mediator, Fortis told Gambhir he may be forced to lodge a complaint against him, drawing a response of “You can go and report to whoever you want.”

Kotak later told reporters that Fortis’ objections to a cooler being wheeled on to the square kicked off the spat.

“He was sitting on the roller, he shouted and told the support staff not to take it there,” Kotak said. “It is good to be a little possessive and it is also good to be protective, but not that much. Gautam just said do not talk to the support staff like this.”

Kotak added, “At the end of the day it is a cricket pitch. It is not an antique where you can’t touch.”

Relations between the teams had been relatively serene until a time-wasting row midway through the third test at Lord’s, involving England batters Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett.

The fourth test ended in rancor, with England captain Ben Stokes annoyed that Washington Sundar and Ravindra Jadeja declined his offer of an early handshake for a draw as they each pursued centuries.

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AP cricket: https://apnews.com/hub/cricket