Gautam Gambhir had all the right of losing it, says Parthiv Patel on argument with Oval curator

New Delhi, Jul 30 (PTI) Former wicketkeeper Parthiv Patel on Wednesday said India head coach Gautam Gambhir “had all the right of just losing it” following a fiery confrontation with Lee Fortis, Surrey's head of ground staff at The Oval.

Gambhir got into a heated argument with Fortis after the latter told him to stay “2.5 metres away from the pitch” on Tuesday when Indian squad was training at The Oval ahead of the fifth and final Test.

“It’s unfortunate that kind of incident has happened. But Gautam had all the right of just losing it. As a curator, obviously, you can’t go and ask someone not to inspect the pitch,” Parthiv told PTI Videos on the sidelines of Outer Delhi Warriors jersey launch event here.

“That’s the head coach’s role. What (else) are you expecting? If a head coach won’t go and inspect the pitch… that’s not possible at all.” “It is on air; it is the entitled behaviour which is obviously not good from England,” Parthiv added.

On Tuesday, Gambhir was seen having the argument with the burly groundsman at whom he pointed fingers and said, “You don’t tell any of us what we need to do, you have no right to tell us, you are just a groundsman, nothing beyond.” Fortis responded by saying, “I will have to report this.” India batting coach Sitanshu Kotak, who was also seen having a word with Fortis during the altercation, later went on to claim that the visitors knew the ground staff at this venue wasn’t the “easiest to work with”.

“When we went to take a look at the wicket the coaches were there, someone came to us and said 'stand 2.5 metres away', which was little surprising. Day after there is a Test match, we had our joggers on not spikes and it felt a bit awkward. I have never seen anything like that in my life,” Kotak told the media.

"The Indian players had told me that he is not the easiest person to work with. It's okay to be protective and possessive about this pitch but not to this extent," he added.

Meanwhile, Parthiv said Indian team has shown great character throughout the series with the fifth and final Test slated to start on Thursday.

“We’ve played really well. Even in tough situations, the team has responded with character. India has been great throughout the series and definitely has a strong chance of making it 2-2,” he said.

The former stumper backed Dhruv Jurel, who is likely to replace the injured wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant, to come good.

“Dhruv Jurel is an equally able player. We’ve seen what he’s done in the home series last year against England,” he said.

“It’s good that India has someone who is capable enough. Obviously, you can’t fill in the shoes of Rishabh Pant. But Dhruv has shown he’s a capable player to represent India”, said Parthiv.

Currently mentoring the Outer Delhi Warriors in the Delhi Premier League (DPL), Parthiv said, “It’s something which I enjoy a lot. As a (former) player, if you can contribute towards someone’s journey, there is nothing bigger than that. Nothing bigger than satisfaction than that.” “They were here last year, and from that stage they’ve gone on to play IPL. And not just that, they performed well in domestic tournaments also. So, it’s good to have these young players in the team,” he added while talking about Priyansh Arya and Suyash Sharma. PTI HN DDV