'No 2.5m Rule For Hosts': Netizens Point Out Oval Groundsmen's Hypocrisy As England Batters Shadow Bat On Pitch, A Day After Gautam Gambhir's Verbal Altercation With Curator

With a couple of England batters shadow batting on the Kia Oval pitch in London, netizens have questioned the 'hypocrisy over allowing the hosts but not the Indian team ahead of the 5th Test. Keeping in mind, Gautam Gambhir's verbal chat with the Surrey groundsman and Sitanshu Kotak later revealing that the curator asked them to stand 2.5 meters away from the pitch, netizens questioned why the same rule doesn't apply to England.

The altercation between Gambhir and The Oval's curator Lee Fortis occurred 48 hours before the match when the visiting team were engaged in an optional training session. The former Indian opener was engaged in a war of words and batting coach Sitanshu Kotak later addressed the incident and revealed, as quoted by ESPN Cricinfo:

#WATCH | London, UK | #INDvsEND | India's batting coach Sitanshu Kotak says, "When we were looking at the pitch. They had sent a man to send a message for us to stay 2.5 m away from the pitch. This was a little surprising. We were wearing joggers. It was quite awkward. We know… pic.twitter.com/7qLHATWb0G

— ANI (@ANI) July 29, 2025

"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, and we're standing in our joggers, so we felt a little awkward."

There were also reports that the ground authorities could lodge a complaint against him.

Here are some of the reactions by the netizens:

England batters shadow batting on the pitch. No 2.5m rule for hosts? pic.twitter.com/WHFzQ1fNgE

— Kashif (@cricstate) July 30, 2025

▶️ 𝗛𝗬𝗣𝗢𝗖𝗥𝗜𝗖𝗬 of ENGLAND 😡 :-

➡️ Shadow Practice by 𝗘𝗡𝗚 batters on the PITCH - Allowed ✅
➡️ But Indian 𝗰𝗼𝗮𝗰𝗵 can't even go to near the PITCH ❌#INDvENG #OvalTest #OvalPitch #INDvsENG #ENGvIND #ENGvsIND pic.twitter.com/edpJbQQjPp

— 𝗖𝗥𝗜-𝗞𝗜𝗧 (@CRI__KIT) July 30, 2025

England batters casually shadow batting on the pitch.
But no 2.5m rule drama now?
Unreal levels of hypocrisy 😭🇮🇳[Pic Credit: Sahil Malhotra]#INDvsENG pic.twitter.com/EYP3y9Gsb9

— Abhisek Gupta (@ABHISTRONG) July 30, 2025

These rules only apply for Indians?

— Samarpit (@Imsamarpit) July 30, 2025

England batters shadow batting on the pitch. No 2.5m rule for hosts? pic.twitter.com/wOZqiG00I7

— Sahil Malhotra (@Sahil_Malhotra1) July 30, 2025