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[Watch] When AB de Villiers Wasn't Given Out Despite Clear Edge Against India 

Kashish Chadha

image-lq0ni1d4India believed they had the big fish (Twitter)

AB de Villiers famously stood his ground despite the cleanest of edges taken by the legendary Sachin Tendulkar as umpire Aleem Dar failed to spot the nick that flew towards the first slip off the bowling of Indian fast-bowling great Zaheer Khan.

The Proteas giant, renowned for his great ethics and behaviour on the cricket field, refrained from taking the matter in his own hands and decided not to walk off even as he clearly nicked the ball against India while Dar deemed him not out, much to the shock of the Indian players.

The incident is from the 2007 India-South Africa ODI series played on the neutral turf of Dublin, Ireland where during the deciding one-dayer De Villiers opted for clever tactics at the expense of the oft-upheld 'spirit of the game'.

When De Villiers Didn't Walk On Tendulkar's Catch 

Running in from the 'over-the-wicket' angle for the left-arm pacer, Zaheer executed a perfect outswinger against the right-hander, which hit the splice of De Villiers' willow and forced first-slip Tendulkar to make a valiant dive to his right for an exceptional catch, perhaps one of the finest of the great man's career. 

Tendulkar immediately got up in celebrations for what he anticipated was a straightforward dismissal for the umpire to judge. He was joined in by the then skipper Rahul Dravid, former captain Sourav Ganguly, wicketkeeper-batter MS Dhoni and the rest of the Indian team at it. 

What followed, however, left the Indian bunch in utter shock and disbelief as Dar failed to spot the clearest of edges and didn't raise his finger towards De Villiers, who quietly stood his ground and refrained from walking off the pitch. 

The umpiring decision is still considered among the worst to have been witnessed in the pre-DRS era at the international stage since everyone bar Dar managed to spot the edge and gave De Villiers the most unlikely reprieve at the crease.