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Sachin Tendulkar post on social media caused fans to ‘name and shame’ Steve Bucknor.
Sachin Tendulkar and Steve Bucknor (X and Facebook)
Sachin Tendulkar’s social media post caught the attention of many netizens with many surmising it to be a dig at retired umpire Steve Bucknor.
Sachin posted a picture of himself standing in a batting stance in front of three big trees on Saturday, with the caption: “Can you guess which umpire made the stumps feel this big?”. The Master Blaster also used a thoughtful emoji.
On seeing the post, the first name that came to the people’s mind was Buckner.
Former Indian cricketer-turned-commentator Aakash Chopra named Bucknor in a tweet.
Aakash wrote: ‘Steve Bucknor…especially when you were batting.’
In fact, there is a history between Sachin and Bucknor.
During the Gabba Test in December 2003, a ball from Jason Gillespie hit Sachin’s pads in the first innings. The Australians appealed as the commentators felt that the ball had bounced a bit too much. Sachin was given out LBW by Bucknor. Sachin was left shocked by the decision as Tony Greig said on commentary: “It’s a terrible decision.” The batting legend did not protest but walked back to the dressing room.
Aakash was a part of the Indian team in that game.
In another instance, Sachin fell victim to Bucknor’s bad decisions. During a Test against Pakistan in 2005, Sachin was given out in the second innings at Eden.
The ball had gone past Sachin’s bat as the bowler appealed half-heartedly with no support from the fielders. Bucknor raised his finger.
He later admitted post-retirement that he had made many mistakes in his career.
“Tendulkar was given out on two different occasions when those were mistakes. I do not think any umpire would want to do a wrong thing. It lives with him and his future could be jeopardised,” Bucknor was quoted as saying on Mason and Guests radio programme.
“To err is human. Once in Australia, I gave him out leg before wicket and the ball was going over the top. Another time, in India it was caught behind. The ball deviated after passing the bat but there was no touch. But the match was at Eden Gardens and when you are at the Eden and India is batting, you hear nothing.”
“Because 100,000 spectators are making noise. Those were the mistakes and I was unhappy. I am saying a human is going to make mistakes and accepting mistakes are part of life,” he added.
