Former Indian cricketer Aakash Chopra has called out The Oval pitch curator Lee Fortis for alleged hypocrisy following a recent controversy involving India’s head coach Gautam Gambhir. The issue arose ahead of the fifth and final Test of the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy 2025 when Gambhir got into a heated exchange with Fortis during a practice session.
Old Photo Sparks Controversy Over Unequal Treatment
Chopra took to social media to share an old photo from the 2023 Ashes series showing Fortis standing on the Oval pitch alongside England head coach Brendon McCullum, just two days before a match.
“𝑫𝒊𝒇𝒇𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒓𝒖𝒍𝒆𝒔 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒅𝒊𝒇𝒇𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒑𝒆𝒐𝒑𝒍𝒆?” 𝑪𝒉𝒐𝒑𝒓𝒂 𝒒𝒖𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒆𝒅 𝒊𝒏 𝒂 𝒗𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒐 𝒑𝒐𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒐𝒏 𝑿 (𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒎𝒆𝒓𝒍𝒚 𝑻𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒓). “2023, 𝑨𝒔𝒉𝒆𝒔 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒔𝒕. 48 𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒔 𝒃𝒆𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒂𝒕𝒄𝒉, 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒂𝒎𝒆 𝑶𝒗𝒂𝒍 𝒄𝒖𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒐𝒓 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒃𝒆 𝒔𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒊𝒕𝒄𝒉 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝑬𝒏𝒈𝒍𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒄𝒐𝒂𝒄𝒉 𝑩𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒐𝒏 𝑴𝒄𝑪𝒖𝒍𝒍𝒖𝒎.”
The ex-opener accused the curator of hypocrisy for preventing Gambhir and the Indian players—who were wearing rubber spikes—from approaching the pitch, yet allowing McCullum similar access previously.
Gambhir’s Reaction and Heated Argument
Gambhir was visibly upset when Fortis interrupted India’s training session. In a now-viral video, the Indian head coach can be heard firmly confronting the groundsman.
“𝒀𝒐𝒖’𝒓𝒆 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒂 𝒈𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒔𝒎𝒂𝒏, 𝒏𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒃𝒆𝒚𝒐𝒏𝒅. 𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒚 𝒊𝒏 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒄𝒂𝒑𝒂𝒄𝒊𝒕𝒚,” 𝑮𝒂𝒎𝒃𝒉𝒊𝒓 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅. “𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝒅𝒐𝒏’𝒕 𝒕𝒆𝒍𝒍 𝒂𝒏𝒚 𝒐𝒇 𝒎𝒚 𝒔𝒒𝒖𝒂𝒅 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒘𝒆 𝒏𝒆𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒅𝒐.”
Chopra defended Gambhir’s actions, stating that the coach’s reaction was valid under the circumstances and accused Fortis of displaying a clear double standard in his approach.
Series Overview: India Fighting to Level the Score
The Test series currently stands at 2-1 in favor of England. The hosts took the first and third Tests by five wickets and 22 runs respectively. India’s only win came at Edgbaston, a dominant 336-run victory powered by Shubman Gill’s incredible 430-run match performance and Akash Deep’s 10-wicket haul (10/187).
In the fourth Test at Old Trafford, India showed strong resilience with the bat in the second innings, resulting in a hard-earned draw. With the series still open, the final Test promises high stakes and tension, especially amid the off-field drama involving the pitch controversy.
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