Former England captain Michael Vaughan couldn’t resist taking a cheeky dig at The Oval’s head curator Lee Fortis during the rain break on Day 1 of the fifth Test between India and England. The moment came during Sony Sports’ broadcast, with Michael Vaughan sharing a light-hearted exchange over the recent pitch drama involving the Indian team. As rain forced an early lunch with India at 72/2, Vaughan mimicked Fortis’ movement on the field, drawing laughter in the studio. “It makes me laugh, there’s been all this drama about the pitch, and I’ve just seen the big groundsman Lee just walk straight down the middle (of the pitch) rolling that little carpet that they have underneath. He’s got massive boots and he walks straight down the middle,” Vaughan joked, exaggeratedly mimicking Fortis’ gait. The playful dig came just two days after a tense face-off between India head coach Gautam Gambhir and Fortis at an optional training session. Caught on camera, the incident showed Gambhir pointing fingers at the curator and saying, “You are just a groundsman. You don’t tell us what we can do.” The argument reportedly lasted several minutes before ground officials intervened.
India’s batting coach Sitanshu Kotak later confirmed the confrontation stemmed from Fortis asking the Indian staff to stay away from the pitch. “Gautam, I and the other coaches were having a look at the pitch. He (Fortis) sent someone to inform us that we should stand away from the pitch, which was surprising,” Kotak said. “There’s nothing wrong in looking at the pitch two days before the game and we had our rubber shoes on.” Gambhir reportedly lost his temper after Fortis allegedly shouted at members of the Indian support staff for carrying a cooling box onto the field. “That’s when Gautam confronted him and told him he can’t talk to the support staff like that,” Kotak added.
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What did you think of Michael Vaughan’s banter during the rain break?
With tensions lingering off the field, Vaughan’s banter added a humorous twist to what has been a charged build-up to the final Test.
