"Give Him Boxing Gloves": Sachin's Witty Take On Umpire, Steve Bucknor

Probuddha Bhattacharjee

Sachin Tendulkar and Steve Bucknor [Source: AFP Media]Sachin Tendulkar and Steve Bucknor [Source: AFP Media]

When it comes to Sachin Tendulkar, the cricketing fraternity connects his name to humility, as well as his graceful public appearances alongside his batting greatness. The great batter has never pulled off publicity stunts of making bold or unnecessary comments about his ex-teammates or officials from his playing times just to catch the limelight. However, in a recent social media interaction, he did not refrain from commenting on Steve Bucknor, an umpire known to have ruled some 50-50 decisions against him.

On Monday, in his first-ever Ask Me Anything session on Reddit, Sachin shared his feelings about the West Indian umpire. When asked, "Any comments for Steve Bucknor?", he came up with a witty response of, "When I am batting, give him boxing gloves to wear." This humorous reply from Tendulkar left the fans in splits.

The Sachin - Bucknor Saga Of Howlers

Notably, Sachin and Bucknor had a long history. The first major memorable howler by Bucknow against Sachin was in Brisbane in 2003. Jason Gillespie bowled a back of a good length delivery that was bouncing high and was also way outside the off stump.

Sachin left the delivery but was wrapped on the pads. While there was an appeal for the leg before, Tendulkar seemed confident that the decision would go in his favour. However, Bucknor took his own sweet time and then raised the finger. Sachin was visibly surprised by the decision; however, he walked out without showing much discontent.

Tendulkar moved on from the incident, but Bucknor came back to haunt him again, two years later at the Eden Gardens—this time against Pakistan, of the bowling of Abdul Razzaq. A delivery from the all-rounder passed Tendulkar's bat without making any contact. The fielding team was not sure of themselves, and it was a very light appeal. However, the West Indian umpire decided that it was a legitimate appeal and left Tendulkar frustrated with his decision.

The Indian great batter has 100 international centuries under his belt. Being a player from the pre-DRS era, he faced many such howlers from many umpires. Fans even believe that even if a few of those decisions went his way, Sachin would have had 20-30 more centuries under his belt. 

But humans are bound to make mistakes, and Tendulkar has never shown discontent against other umpires. However, for Bucknor, the worst of the decisions came against Sachin, and apparently, the batter has not forgotten the silly raise of the fingers.