Gautam Gambhir in a heated exchange with Oval pitch curator
When the dust settled at The Oval after a five-day humdinger between India and England, it wasn’t just the players who had stories to tell. In the thick of the drama, behind the ropes and smack in the centre of controversy was one man: Lee Fortis, the chief curator of The Oval.
Lee Fortis Breaks Silence On Oval Pitch and Gambhir Fight
The man who usually lets his pitch do the talking finally broke his silence on his alleged spat with Gautam Gambhir ahead of the Oval Test.
A week ago, Lee Fortis was branded the “villain” by Indian fans after a heated exchange with India’s head coach. But on the final evening of the Test match, with the crowd still buzzing and the players drained, Fortis was spotted clinking glasses with his ground staff, soaking in the applause for a pitch that delivered a thriller for the ages.
“Well, I was never the villain; I was made to look like one,” Fortis told PTI as quoted by Times Of India. “Hope you all enjoyed the spectacle. The atmosphere was like the IPL, and it was a fantastic game.”
The Root Of The Tiff
The whole episode with Gambhir stemmed from a rather odd request. Fortis and his team had asked the Indian players and staff to keep a 2.5-meter distance from the pitch area during practice. That didn’t sit well with Gambhir, who reportedly fired back during a tense face-off, even mockingly calling Fortis “just a groundsman.”
But Fortis didn’t fan the flames. Instead, he brushed it off calmly: “Gambhir was a bit touchy ahead of a big game.”
Pitch Perfect At The Oval
To be fair, Fortis has reason to stand tall. The pitch was a belter for most of the match. Joe Root and Harry Brook made hay on Day 4 as England chased 374. But come Day 5, Mohammed Siraj turned the match on its head as he made the ball talk and snatched India a dramatic win.
Even with the same surface and an old ball, Siraj got it to hoop and zip, which was proof not only of his skill but also of the quality of the track.
The pitch gave something for everyone: runs, bounce, seam, swing, and most importantly, a finish to remember. It’s no surprise then that Fortis has been ECB’s Curator of the Year three times in a row.
Meanwhile, with The Hundred starting at The Oval from August 9, Fortis is already tending to the square, making sure it’s good to go for the white-ball carnival.
