Former Indian cricketer Ravichandran Ashwin has reckoned that the fiery exchange between India head coach Gautam Gambhir and the Kennington Oval curator could trigger India in the IND vs ENG 5th Test. The head coach was involved in a heated verbal confrontation with head curator Lee Fortis two days before the final Test in London. Ahead of the match, Ashwin said that this incident might backfire on England and work in India’s favour.
Can India use Gambhir vs curator as motivation?
In a video on his YouTube channel, Ashwin explained that the Indian team always managed to rise up when adversity strikes. He said that the Indian team was a different kind of beast when pushed against the wall. Referring to the Gambhir vs curator incident, Ashwin warned England that this wasn’t the way to trigger India.
“After all that, when I saw the video of that fight today, I am thinking, ‘Boss, what are you guys doing?’ This is not how you want to play against this Indian team. I have always seen that when adversity strikes the Indian team, however it may be, someone will rise up. When things are not going right, or when we are pushed against the wall, the Indian team is a different kettle of fish; it becomes a different beast,” Ashwin said.
Why did Gambhir & Oval pitch curator fight?
The curator didn’t want Indian players or support staff to get anywhere near the pitch. He wished to grow even more grass on it and objected to them getting close. India batting coach Sitanshu Kotak shared that they weren’t wearing spiked shoes and couldn’t have damaged the pitch in any way.
“When such an incident occurs, those sleeping beasts, the individually brilliant players, will come together. I have seen that many times. You look at any kind of adversity. When that Monkeygate incident happened, you saw how we played in the next Test. Look at what happened at the Gabba, look at what happened at the Lord’s, where Virat said, ’60 overs of hell’. It galvanizes the team,” said Ashwin.
