Former West Indies umpire Steve Buckner has finally admitted his big mistake after 22 years. He revealed in an interview that it was wrong to give out LBW to Sachin Tendulkar in 2003.
Barbados: Former West Indies umpire Steve Bucknor has admitted his big mistake after 22 years. He admitted that giving out LBW to Sachin Tendulkar in the Brisbane Test during India’s tour of Australia in 2003-04 was a wrong decision. In that match, a ball from Jason Gillespie was going outside the off stump. Sachin picked up the bat and let it go, but the ball hit his pad. The Australian players made a light appeal, but Buckner surprised everyone by raising his finger.
Even the Australian players themselves were shocked by this decision of Buckner. Sachin also did not believe it and returned to the pavilion looking at the umpire with disbelief. Due to this wrong decision of Buckner, Sachin was out after scoring only 3 runs.
Bucknor, who has retired from umpiring, revealed this in an interview given to the West Indies Cricket Umpires Association. He said, “I know it was a mistake to give Sachin out. People still talk about it today. They ask, ‘Was Sachin out? Why did I do that?’ Mistakes happen in life and I accept that.”
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The fans and commentators watching the match at that time were also surprised by Buckner’s decision. Famous commentator Tony Greig called it a “shocking decision”. It was clearly visible in the replays that considering the bounce and movement of the ball, it would have gone over the wicket. Such disputes have happened many times on the field between Sachin and Buckner. Once when Sachin was asked about Buckner, he had jokingly said, “When I am batting, I should give him boxing gloves so that he cannot lift his finger.”