Fact Check: Did Dale Steyn really trap Sachin Tendulkar in front of stumps in the 190s?

Dale Steyn came up with an interesting accusation during a Sky Sports podcast with James Anderson on Friday. The South African speedster said he once trapped Sachin Tendulkar LBW in the 190s but was ruled not out by umpire Ian Gould. Steyn said this instance was during the first-ever double century in Men’s ODI cricket. He also revealed that he asked Gould why he turned the appeal down even though it was dead plumb.

As per Steyn, Gould replied saying that he wouldn’t be able to return to the hotel had he given Tendulkar out in such a situation. If we look back to the 2010 Gwalior ODI, the claims made by Dale Steyn seem to be untrue. Steyn got to bowl only three balls when Tendulkar was batting in the 190s. Two of them were tucked away for singles while another ball took the leading edge and rolled back to Steyn.

In fact, the only time Steyn hit the pads of Sachin in that game was during the 7th over when the Indian opener was batting on 25. Hawkeye suggested that the ball would have missed the stumps comfortably. Sachin faced a total of 31 balls from Steyn in this game out of which 16 were dot balls. Tendulkar managed to score 37 runs with help of seven fours in the remaining 15 balls.

Here are the ball by ball details of Sachin Tendulkar and Dale Steyn clash during the 2010 Gwalior ODI:

Over No. 0.3 – 0 runs. Contact with Pads – No. Hit towards the cover fielder.

Over No. 0.4 – 0 runs. Contact with Pads – No. Hit towards the cover fielder.

Over No. 0.5 – 0 runs. Contact with Pads – No. Played towards offside.

Over No. 0.6 – 0 runs. Contact with Pads – No. Played towards the bowler.

Over No. 2.2 – 1 run. Contact with Pads – No.

Over No. 2.6 – 4 runs. Contact with Pads – No.

Over No. 4.1 – 0 runs. Contact with Pads – No. Played towards the cover region.

Over No. 4.2 – 0 runs. Contact with Pads – No. Played towards the mid-on.

Over No. 4.3 – 4 runs. Contact with Pads – No.

Over No. 4.4 – 0 runs. Contact with Pads – No. Beaten on outside edge.

Over No. 4.5 – 2 runs. Contact with Pads – No.

Over No. 4.6 – 0 runs. Contact with Pads – No. Played back to the bowler.

Over No. 6.1 – 0 runs. Contact with Pads – No. Hit towards the mid-off.

Over No. 6.2 – 4 runs. Contact with Pads – No.

Over No. 6.3 – 0 runs. Contact with Pads – No. A leading-edge went towards the covers fielder.

Over No. 6.4 – 0 runs. Contact with Pads – Yes. The ball would have missed the leg-stump.

Over No. 6.5 – 1 run. Contact with Pads – No.

Over No. 8.6 – 1 run. Contact with Pads – No.

Over No. 10.5 – 1 run. Contact with Pads – No.

Over No. 34.1 – 0 runs. Contact with Pads – No. Played towards point fielder.

Over No. 34.2 – 4 runs. Contact with Pads – No.

Over No. 34.3 – 0 runs. Contact with Pads – No. Missed the ball which was close to the wide line.

Over No. 34.4 – 0 runs. Contact with Pads – No. Missed the ball which was close to the wide line.

Over No. 34.5 – 4 runs. Contact with Pads – No.

Over No. 34.6 – 1 run. Contact with Pads – No.

Over No. 36.4 – 4 runs. Contact with Pads – No.

Over No. 36.5 – 0 runs. Contact with Pads – No. Missed an uppercut.

Over No. 36.6 – 4 runs. Contact with Pads – No.

Over No. 46.1 – 1 run. Contact with Pads – No.

Over No. 46.3 – 0 runs. Contact with Pads – No. A leading-edge went back to the bowler.

Over No. 46.4 – 1 run. Contact with Pads – No.

Matches involving Sachin Tendulkar, Dale Steyn, and Ian Gould

Ian Gould was the on-field umpire in six International matches involving Sachin Tendulkar and Dale Steyn all between 2010 and 2011. Tendulkar did manage to score a century in each of those six matches – Four in Tests and two in ODIs. This list includes Sachin’s 50th Test ton and his last of the six centuries in World Cup as well as the first-ever double hundred in Men’s ODI cricket.

Across those six hundreds, only once Sachin survived an LBW appeal while batting in the 90s. It happened when Master Blaster was batting on 92 during the 2nd essay of the 2010 Nagpur Test. Steyn made the ball reverse into Sachin who missed playing a leg-glance and was struck on the pads. The hawkeye did suggest the ball was going down the leg.

Thus, it can be said Steyn’s claims of being unlucky against Sachin during the ODI double century or even in the 90s on any other instance were untrue. However, there was an occasion of Tendulkar getting away against Steyn thanks to Ian Gould. This happened during the 2011 Cape Town Test when Sachin was batting on 49. Gould turned down a caught behind appeal which turned to be an incorrect decision as a spike was detected on the ultra-edge.