‘Even today, it baffles me’ – Saeed Ajmal on Billy Bowden giving Sachin Tendulkar not out in 2011 World Cup semi-final

Saeed Ajmal, the former Pakistan spinner, found it baffling after third umpire Billy Bowden overturned Sachin Tendulkar’s on-field LBW decision in the 2011 World Cup semi-final. At the PCA Stadium in Mohali, the tweaker caught the Master Blaster in front when the latter was batting on 23.

Thereafter, umpire Ian Gould didn’t have any hesitation in raising his finger. But India used the Decision Review System (DRS) and Sachin ended up getting a reprieve. However, the 42-year-old Ajmal, who retired from the game in 2017, stated that the batsman was out.

“It was straight in front and I was 100 percent sure he was out. Shahid Afridi, Kamran, Wahab and other players asked me was he (Tendulkar) out and I told them he is gone,” Ajmal was quoted as saying in a television channel, reported by Hindustan Times.

Later, Gould, who served as the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) elite panel of umpires, said that he would stand by his original decision of giving Sachin out. The reversed decision turned out to be a crucial one in the context of the game as Tendulkar went on to score 85, taking India to 260.

Maybe luck was with him that day: Saeed Ajmal

In the end, Pakistan lost the match by 29 runs and crashed out of the World Cup. Ajmal admitted that Sachin’s knock played a crucial role in deciding the fate of the game.

“I never got a chance to bowl to him in a Test so whenever I played against him in white ball cricket I always wanted to do my best. More disappointing was that we lost the semi-final and it is obvious that Tendulkar’s 85 runs made all the difference,” he stated.

“Even today, the third umpire’s decision baffles me. Maybe luck was with him that day and he went on play such a crucial innings for his team,” Ajmal added.

Ajmal was one of the top-ranked bowlers during his playing days. But in 2014, he was reported for a suspect action following which he couldn’t perform with the modified action. His career came to an end after the tour of Bangladesh in 2015.