India coach Gautam Gambhir was spotted having a row with the Oval groundsman ahead of the final Test against England later this week. The series is finely poised heading into the fifth Test, with England boasting a 2-1 lead over India. 

The teams played out a tense draw at Old Trafford over the weekend, with tensions boiling over between the two sets of players. And it appears ahead of this week's decider that the Indian coaching staff are also starting to feel the pressure, with Gambhir having some choice words for the Oval's groundsman. 

A video circulating on social media, taken during an India training session, showed Gambhir deep in conversation with Lee Fortis. It's claimed by ESPNcricinfo that Fortis was unhappy with India using the majority of the main square for their training session - a disagreement which led to the spat. 

Gambhir, who played 58 Tests for India, can be heard saying: "You can go and report to whoever you want, but you can’t tell us what to do." Things continued to get heated, with the India coach continuing: "You don't tell us what to do, you're just a groundsman. You're just a groundsman... nothing beyond that."

Fortis was later quizzed on the incident by the Indian press pack, with the Oval groundsman saying: "There's quite a big game coming up isn't there? I don't know the man [Gambhir], I've never met him before today."

The Indian press pack continued to press Fortis for a comment, but the groundsman remained calm. While being pressed for a reaction, he continued: "You saw what he was like this morning. There's no sides to the story... We've nothing to hide here... I don't want to be rude." 

India’s assistant coach Sitanshu Kotak dubbed the altercation “awkward”, after admitting he found the request from the groundstaff unusual. He said: "When some of us coaches went to see the wicket, a member of the groundstaff said stay away at least 2.5 metres, which was a little surprising. Because it is the pitch, the match is starting day after, it will be a five-day Test...

"When you're working with very intelligent and highly-skilled people, if you sound a bit arrogant or if you come across like … you can be protective, but at the end of the day it is a cricket pitch. It is not an antique where you can't touch, because otherwise if it is 200 years old it can be broken."

It comes just days after the England players were caught up in the middle of a row with Indian batters Washington Sundar and Ravindra Jadeja, after captain Ben Stokes attempted to shake hands early. Sundar and Jadeja were both chasing hundreds at the time - which they went onto achieve - with the move sparking a debate about the 'spirit of cricket'. 

Speaking after the Manchester Test, Stokes said: "I don't think there would've been too much more satisfaction from walking off a hundred not out, getting your team out of a tricky situation, than walking off at 80, 90 not out. That's what you've done for your team. You know, the 10 more runs or whatever it was ain't gonna change the fact that you've managed to get your team out of a very, very, very tricky situation and almost saved your team from a series defeat before the last game."

England and India renew their rivalry for the final time this week, with day one of the fifth Test pencilled in for Thursday.