"I gave Out for Not Out": Steve Bucknor Reveals Wrong Umpiring against Legendary Batsman!

A top international umpire, Steve Bucknor in the 2000s is famous for his errors in judgement. His errors caused a match or two for Indian International cricketer, Sachin Tendulkar.

In the Gabba Test in 2003, he granted Tendulkar leave from the field after calling for an LBW despite the ball going above the wickets. Similarly, he thought Tendulkar had edged an Abdul Razzuq delivery in 2005 at Kolkata.

“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.

“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.

After addressing the fact that umpires today are backed up with technology he said, “Now thinking about when I was umpiring and I gave a batsman out who was not out, realizing I made a mistake it took a long time to fall asleep that night. Now you can fall asleep quickly because the correct decision is eventually given.”