Dale Steyn, the South African bowler, who is regarded as one of the most talented bowlers, recently, opened up about the controversial LBW on Sachin Tendulkar that took place in Gwalior in 2010. Well, during a one-day international match Sachin Tendulkar, went on to score a double century for the first time in the ODI format of the game.
It was during the same match when Dale Steyn had almost got him for a LBW only to be denied by umpire Ian Gould.
Recently, in an interview, Dale Steyn revealed that he was convinced that he had got Sachin Tendulkar with that LBW but he was denied out because of Ian Gould’s fear he wouldn’t make it back to his hotel if he gave the India great out. Yes, you read it right. He revealed:
“He scored the first double-hundred in ODI cricket, and it was against us in Gwalior. And I actually remember – I think I got him out lbw when he was about 190-odd. Gouldy was the umpire, and he gave him not out.”
He added:
“And I was like, ‘why, why did you give him not out!? That’s so dead’. And he was like, ‘mate, look around — if I gave him out, I won’t make it back to the hotel’.”
Furthermore, Dale Steyn showered praises on the legendary Indian cricketer Sachin Tendulkar and expressed that Sachin had “everything covered, he’s got every shot in the book. He said:
“And, like Jimmy said, you just didn’t want to bowl a bad ball to him. Especially in a place like India. You bowl a bad ball, and he hits you four — he’s on nought and he hits you for four in Mumbai (Tendulkar’s home town), it feels like the world is closing in on you. He’s only on four not out, he may as well have been on 500!”
He added
“You feel like, ‘maybe I could bring the pace down a little bit and really focus on getting the ball in the right place for as long as I possibly can’. You just didn’t want to bowl a bad ball. You just hope one will do something off the seam or he’s got an off day, and it goes in your favour”
