During the period between 2007-08, ‘Master Blaster’ Sachin Tendulkar developed a knack of getting dismissed in the 80s and 90s. Sometimes due to soft dismissals or the other times because of a howler from standing umpire.
During the Trent Bridge Test of India’s 2007 tour of England, Tendulkar had to walk back to the pavilion while batting on 91, due to an error of judgement from veteran umpire Simon Taufel.
Sachin opted to leave an incoming delivery from Paul Collingwood which eventually hit his pads. He was adjudged leg-before by Taufel. A disappointed Tendulkar took a moment to digest the decision and expressed his displeasure.
Replays clearly showed that the ball was comfortably missing the off-stump. Now, the retired umpire has reflected on his rare howler which curtailed Sachin’s fluent knock.
“Well, I’m thinking, shouldered arms, so benefit of the doubt probably to the bowler, and I’ve given Sachin out after a bit of thought,” Taufel told Gaurav Kapur on ’22 Yarns’ show.
“Now, of course, Sachin’s not happy with the decision. It’s unusual for him to stand around, and he did stand there for a little bit of time, and then he went. I could see that he wasn’t happy.
“Later on Hawkeye showed that the ball was predicted to miss the off stump by maybe an inch. And I just knew what the response was going to be like from world cricket; so I didn’t open Cricinfo, I didn’t read any newspapers, I knew that I was going to be… not the flavour of the month in the media,” he added.
“I’m a big believer that breakdowns lead to breakthroughs, and I think that was an example where Sachin and I had a moment that wasn’t particularly pleasant. I wanted him to know that I took my job seriously and I was going to make sure that that didn’t happen again. And I think out of that exchange, that relationship bank account got a massive credit because I think that breakdown moment did lead to a breakthrough,” the 49-year reckoned.
“We have ongoing mutual respect for each other and our abilities because I’ve got Sachin wrong a number of times, not just on that one occasion. I’ve got the best in the world wrong. And I’ve learned from all those examples. But one thing that will always be with me, apart from those mistakes, is the respect and the trust and the integrity of our relationships as we go forward,” Taufel concluded.
