Kotak continued: “Curators are a little over-protective or possessive about the square and the ground. [They] need to understand that the people they are talking to are highly skilled and intelligent people.
“When you are working with very intelligent and highly skilled people, if you sound a bit arrogant, you can be protective – but at the end of the day it’s a cricket pitch. It’s not an antique that you can’t touch because it’s 200 years old and it can be broken. That’s what I feel.”
With no specific outdoor practice area, India used three practice wickets surrounded by nets close to the Test match pitch, which is standard procedure.
BBC Sport asked Surrey for a comment but the club declined, though in a video Fortis later downplayed the incident, telling Indian media “there’s nothing to speak about. There’s nothing to hide here”.
The incident is the latest in a heated and competitive series between the two sides, with the fourth Test at Old Trafford ending with India refusing to shake hands for the draw early as Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar reached centuries.
India skipper Shubman Gill also said England were acting “against the spirit of cricket” with time-wasting tactics during the third Test at Lord’s.
England lead the five-match series 2-1 and Ben Stokes’ side are expected to make changes to the team from Manchester’s draw, particularly to the bowling line-up after just three days in between Tests.
Jamie Overton, Gus Atkinson and Josh Tongue are the spare quicks in the squad after Stokes struggled with various niggles. Chris Woakes and Brydon Carse have played all four matches so far and Jofra Archer has played back-to-back after making his comeback from a four-year injury absence.
Meanwhile India will be without wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant because of a fractured foot and they also have a decision to make on pace bowler Jasprit Bumrah, who has played the maximum three Tests they stated he would before the series.
