I would still give him out: Ian Gould reflects on his infamous Sachin Tendulkar's LBW decision against Pakistan

During the 2011 World Cup semi-final between India and Pakistan, Sachin Tendulkar scored a fantastic knock of 85 which had helped his side to a win. During his innings though, he had got a few retrieves. Pakistan dropped as many as four catches during Sachin’s knock. However, he also got a retrieve due to the Decision Review System (DRS) as well.

Saeed Ajmal was the bowler who trapped Sachin in front of the stumps for leg before wicket appeal. The on-field umpire gave it out before the Indians reviewed the call. As it turned out, the ball was missing the wickets much to the disbelief of the Pakistani players. Years later, the on-field umpire who had given Sachin out, Ian Gould revealed that he would still give out, had it happened again.

During a recent interview, the 62-year-old talked about his infamous decision. He went on to say that he actually felt happy when Sachin didn’t review and was walking but he turned around and took the review.

“When I gave him out at Mohali, I’m thinking this is out. I will sit here and guarantee you, if I see it again, I’d still give it out, simple as that. He talked to Gambhir and looked like he was going to walk out, and I’m thinking thank God for that, then he spun on his heels and made that T sign and the world stopped,” said Gould as quoted by Cricket Pakistan.

‘Sachin was absolutely plumb in front’: Ian Gould

Gould was a member of ICC Elite umpire’s panel until last year. He retired after the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019. Recalling the incident from the 2011 world cup semi-final, Gould revealed he was annoyed once the giant screen showed that ball was actually missing the leg stump.

“Eventually, Billy Bowden told me ‘It’s missing leg, I need you to change your decision.’ Well, no disrespect to him, but I was watching on a 90-foot screen showing me it was missing leg by an inch so I didn’t really need his analysis. I’ve got a picture here where I’m looking slightly disgruntled or annoyed as I gave them not out,” he added.

If anyone sees that ball, it would be quite clear to them that Sachin was absolutely plumb in front. However, due to a little extra spin, the ball from Ajmal went down the leg side. Gould said that he couldn’t believe that the ball was missing the leg stump. According to him, it was one of the easier calls he was going to make as Sachin seemed to be in front of the stumps.

“It does affect you at some stage but what you have to do is like a player, get rid of it as soon as you can. My problem was the disbelief of that thing missing leg-stump, in my mind, it was one of those straightforward ones, gone,” he said.