India head coach Gautam Gambhir was involved in a furious row with a groundsman at The Oval ahead of his side’s fifth Test with England.
Footage circulated on social media that showed Gambhir and Oval curator Lee Fortis arguing over India’s use of the square during their training session.
The altercation continued before Gambhir returned to help train his team, only to turn back towards Fortis and point his finger angrily.
Gambhir incessantly repeated the same phrases as he appeared incandescent with rage, taking aim at Fortis’ job title and telling him to “stay in your capacity”.
“You stop it. You don’t tell us what we need to do,” Gambhir was heard saying. “You don’t tell us what we need to do, okay.
“You don’t need to tell us. You don’t tell any of my squad what we need to do. You have no right to tell us. You are just a groundsman. You stay in your capacity.
“You are just a groundsman, nothing beyond. You are just a groundsman.”
Reports have claimed that the ground staff threatened to lodge a complaint against the India head coach during the incident, to which Gambhir replied: “You can go and report to whoever you want, but you can’t tell us what to do.”
Fortis was later questioned about the altercation but played down the spat, hinting that tensions simply boiled over with the crucial fifth Test on the horizon.
“No, I don’t want to say anything,” he told Indian media. “There’s quite a big game coming up, isn’t there?
“It’s not my job to be happy with him. I don’t know the man, I’ve never met him before today.
“You saw what he was like this morning. There’s nothing to speak about, there’s nothing to hide here.”
England currently lead the Test series 2-1, with the fifth Test getting started on Thursday, 31 July and running through until Monday, 4 August.
