Team India captain Shubman Gill broke his silence on the fiery verbal chat that Gautam Gambhir had with The Oval pitch curator Lee Fortis on Tuesday ahead of the fifth Test against England. Gill admitted that he has been baffled by the events, given they have haven't been refused to practice on the wickets.
The altercation between Gambhir and The Oval's curator occurred 48 hours before the match when the visiting team were engaged in an optional training session. The former Indian opener was engaged in a war of words and batting coach Sitanshu Kotak later addressed the incident and revealed, as quoted by ESPN Cricinfo:
"When some of us coaches went to see the wicket, a member of the groundstaff said stay away at least 2.5 metres, which was a little surprising. Because it is the pitch, the match is starting day after, it will be a five-day Test, and we're standing in our joggers, so we felt a little awkward."
Meanwhile, Gill addressed the happenings in a presser on Wednesday and said:
"I don't know what happened exactly yesterday, unke curator ne kyun mana kiya. But isse pehle hum 4 matches khel chuke hain aur kisi ne humko mana nahin kiya tha. Itni cricket sab khele hain aur itni baar jaake wicket dekhi hai. So, I don't know what the fuss was all about."
(I don't know what happened exactly yesterday, why the curator refused. We have played four matches here before, no one refused us. So much cricket has been played and we saw the wicket. Don't know what the fuss was all about.)
"We will see how it turns out" - Shubman Gill on Jasprit Bumrah's availability
Speaking about whether Bumrah will play the final Test, the 25-year-old said they have left the decision to the last minute.
"We will take a decision [on Bumrah] tomorrow; the wicket looks very green. So we will see how it turns out. Arshdeep Singh has been asked to get ready, but we will take a call on the playing XI after looking at the pitch, by this evening."
Team India had beaten England the last time these two sides played at The Oval.
