Gautam Gambhir : Team India batting coach Sitanshu Kotak disagreed with an observation about head coach Gautam Gambhir feeling the heat ahead of the fifth Test against England at The Oval. Kotak admitted that the entire management and support staff are disappointed about India trailing 1-2 in the five-match series, but added that Gambhir is not feeling any pressure.
Gautam Gambhir : India’s head coach has been very active in England over the past few days. He delivered passionate responses to the media during the press conference after the draw in the Manchester Test. On Tuesday, July 29, Gambhir got into a disagreement with The Oval’s pitch curator Lee Fortis.
Gautam Gambhir : At a press conference on Tuesday, Kotak was asked if the Indian head coach is beginning to feel the pressure of the visitors being behind in the Test series. In a composed manner, Kotak disagreed and replied:
Gautam Gambhir : “I don’t think so. I think it has been a very competitive series and both the teams, to be fair to England also, have played really well. The first Test and the Lord’s Test also could have gone either way. All the Test matches went to the fifth day. It has been an absolutely brilliant Test series so far. Gautam is someone I have never seen under pressure from his playing days to now.
Gautam Gambhir : “Definitely not under pressure and we wish we would have won the Lord’s game and gone 2-1 up. But, that’s not pressure. That’s just going back and thinking if we could have done something different. That’s nothing about taking pressure,” the 52-year-old went on to add.
India's batting coach said – "Curator Lee forties yelled at Support staff for keeping the cooling box on the square. Asked Gautam Gambhir to stand behind the rope and check the pitch".
— Tanuj (@ImTanujSingh) July 29, 2025
– Meanwhile Pitch Curator & Brendon McCullum are having chat in the middle of the pitch. pic.twitter.com/uorKRdiIUt
With a young side, Team India have been highly competitive in the series so far. They came close to winning the Lord’s Test, but went down by 22 runs.
Gautam Gambhir : “Doesn’t speak unnecessary things” – Kotak backs Gambhir over argument with The Oval pitch curator
There were multiple questions on the Gambhir–Fortis spat directed at Kotak at the press conference on Tuesday. To his credit, the former Saurashtra cricketer handled all the queries maturely. He also defended Gambhir over his outburst and explained:
“Literally, he [Fortis] was saying, ‘you go outside the ropes’ to the head coach and see the wicket. In my cricketing career, I have never seen anyone saying that. It was a strange way of saying you stand away from the wicket. That is what started it. Gautam is someone who doesn’t speak unnecessary things. He doesn’t talk to anyone.”
Meanwhile, the fifth and final Test of the India vs England series will be played at The Oval from July 31 to August 4.
