Steve Bucknor recalls two instances when his error of judgement led to Sachin Tendulkar’s dismissal

Steve Bucknor, the former umpire, feels that he ruled Sachin Tendulkar on a couple of instances when he shouldn’t have given him out. Bucknor was known as the ‘Slow Death’ as he resorted to a long pause before raising his finger. He has had his fair share of controversies as well after being called back midway from India’s 2007-08 tour of Australia following a protest from the BCCI.

To start with, Bucknor recalled The Gabba Test in 2003 when Jason Gillespie rapped Sachin on the pads and the umpire raised his finger. But the leather seemed to have missed the leg-stump by quite some distance. However, it didn’t cost India the game as it was drawn after Sourav Ganguly’s 144.

Thereafter, Bucknor went down the memory lane to India’s Test against Pakistan in 2005 at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata. Sachin chased a swinging delivery from Abdul Razzaq and was given out. Replays showed that the ball hadn’t made any contact with the bat.

I am saying a human is going to make mistakes: Steve Bucknor

“To err is human. 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 in the Mason & Guest programme.

“Once in Australia I gave him leg-before and the ball was going over the top, and 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,” Bucknor said.

Bucknor was a tad unhappy, having made those mistakes and he understands that errors are part and parcel of life. “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.

The Jamaican also heaped praises on Sachin, saying that the Master Blaster was one of the best batters he has seen in his entire life. The 74-year-old said that Tendulkar stays oblivious of any chaos while he is batting in the middle.