Let’s be clear from the outset: Gautam Gambhir is not the first combative, fiery coach or captain that India has had. Some leaders thrive in the fire. Their authority stems not from quiet diplomacy but from visible intensity, relentless confrontation, and a siege mentality. In football, Jos Mourinho mastered this art, using friction as fuel. It wasn’t always pretty, but it often worked.
Watching Gambhir in his nascent yet dramatic stint as head coach of the Indian men’s team, one senses something familiar. He, too, appears to be building a bunker mentality around this team. But recent events raise a quieter, more pressing question: how much emotional charge is too much?
Gambhir has always been a man on edge. Whether as a batter, leader, broadcaster, or now as India’s coach, he has never hidden behind platitudes. Polite diplomacy has never been his strong suit.
As a player, he was the ultimate streetfighter. Scrapping for runs under fading light in Napier or lifting India with a match-winning 97 in the 2011 World Cup final. His game was built on bloody-minded resilience.
As a broadcaster, he retained this edge, calling out poor captaincy, strange selections, and underwhelming performances, even when it involved big names. But he rarely crossed a line. He was aggressive, yes. Disrespectful, very rarely.
But as coach, Gambhir has had tough days. The results haven’t matched the rhetoric. He has won just four of the 14 Tests he has overseen. After a difficult 1–3 series loss in Australia, tactical missteps have seemingly cost India another shot at victory in England.
Increasingly, Gambhir has appeared frustrated, clashing with the press and swatting away questions. And that’s why the recent confrontation at The Oval forces an uncomfortable question: has Gambhir finally gone too far?
THE OVAL FLASHPOINT
It was meant to be a routine pitch inspection—just another pre-match formality two days before a series-deciding Test. But when Oval chief curator Lee Fortis reportedly instructed India’s support staff to keep a 2.5-metre distance from the pitch, Gambhir snapped.
Eyewitnesses described the exchange as tense. Gambhir was heard saying: “You don’t tell any of us what we need to do. You have no right to tell us. You’re just a groundsman—nothing beyond.”
He also, by most accounts, used the f-word within earshot of 10 Indian players.
Batting coach Sitanshu Kotak later tried to ease the tension, admitting the request itself was surprising: “When we were looking at the pitch, they asked us to stand 2.5 metres away. We were wearing joggers. It was very odd. Looking at the wicket with rubber spikes—nothing wrong. We see the ground is not damaged. It’s a pitch, not an antique.”
Kotak added that Fortis had a reputation for being “not the easiest person to work with.”
Yet the fallout may not be about protocol, it’s about perception. Just hours later, an image of Fortis standing on the pitch with England coach Brendon McCullum during the 2023 Ashes went viral. The implication: different rules for different teams.
Former India opener Aakash Chopra shared the image and hit out at the apparent double standards.
Yes, the English have flirted with double standards throughout this tour. And yes, Fortis may have overstepped in asking the Indian staff to step back. But Gambhir wagging a finger and telling him, “You’re just a groundsman,” was dismissive in a way that undermined the dignity of the man’s work. Whatever the provocation, belittling someone’s professional role felt needlessly personal.
A TOUR OF TENSIONS
This confrontation didn’t happen in isolation. If anything, it caps a series steadily growing in tension. There were heated exchanges on the field during the second and third Tests. The fourth Test in Manchester ended in real drama.
After a gritty 202-run partnership between Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar had taken India to safety, England captain Ben Stokes proposed a draw an hour early. India declined. Jadeja was on 89, Sundar on 80—they had earned the right to pursue personal milestones.
Stokes didn’t take it well.
He was seen shaking his head in disbelief and walked up to Jadeja to say: “Jaddu, you want to get a Test hundred against Harry Brook and Ben Ducket?”
The remark was unnecessary. And in the context of the match, where Sundar and Jadeja had fought tooth and nail against Archer, Woakes, and Dawson, it felt downright petty.
While Stokes later cited workload management and concerns about his tired bowlers, the moment soured what had otherwise been a magnificent draw. For an Indian team that had taken body blows throughout the series, this felt like another jab.
THE GAMBHIR STREAK
Gambhir’s combative streak wasn’t just on display with Fortis. At Leeds, Rishabh Pant had just smashed twin centuries in a game where India racked up five hundreds. Yet when a journalist began asking about Pant’s form, Gambhir cut him off mid-sentence.
The reporter didn’t even get to finish the question. Gambhir snapped back, implying the query wasn’t phrased “properly.” It was a sharp rebuke for what most saw as a harmless question.
Then, after India pulled off a stunning draw at Manchester, the temperature rose again. Shubman Gill had led with poise as stand-in captain. But when a journalist asked how Gill had silenced critics who questioned his overseas record, Gambhir responded curtly: “Whoever doubts Gill doesn’t know anything about cricket.”
That defensive tone prompted broadcaster and former India batter Sanjay Manjrekar to weigh in with a rare moment of candour, especially within Indian broadcasting circles:
“Certain questions clearly get under his skin, especially about Gill as a young captain and batter. Those doubts are legitimate—many who deeply understand cricket question whether this was the right time to hand him the captaincy.”
“I’d like to see him take a step back, relax, and be open to tough questions. Gambhir should foster a more constructive dialogue with the media to bridge the divide between his perspective and external critiques. Whether he’ll adapt remains uncertain.”
Manjrekar also pointed to the coach’s tactics as partly responsible for India’s underwhelming Test record in recent months.
THE LEADERSHIP MIRROR
And this is where comparisons to his predecessors matter.
Virat Kohli and Ravi Shastri, for all their aggression, rarely crossed lines with the press. Their mantra was simple: block out the “outside noise.” Kohli might have bristled at questions, but he rarely retaliated. Shastri preferred quips over confrontation.
Even MS Dhoni, famously calm, had a moment when he called a journalist onto the dais in 2016 over a retirement query. It was uncharacteristic and widely criticised. But even that incident never carried the kind of heat now emanating from Gambhir’s tenure.
PASSION: A WEAPON?
None of this is to suggest that passion is a flaw. A young Indian team still forging its core may, in fact, be energised by Gambhir’s intensity. But leadership isn’t only about emotional fire, it’s about restraint. Especially when the temperature is already boiling over.
That doesn’t mean Gambhir must dull his edge. But it does mean understanding that being right doesn’t give one licence to be rude.
With the Oval Test looming, Gambhir has a chance to recalibrate, to let the cricket do the talking. If India level the series, he’ll be praised. If not, moments like the Fortis flashpoint may linger as self-inflicted wounds.
Great leaders also know when to step back. Gautam Gambhir still has time to find that balance.
– Ends
