Sachin Tendulkar sparks controversy as ex-umpire Steve Bucknor becomes a top trend after viral post

Cricket fans are well aware of the strained relationship between Sachin Tendulkar and former West Indies umpire Steve Bucknor. Bucknor infamously made two crucial errors in matches involving Tendulkar. The first incident occurred at the Gabba in 2003, and the second took place at Eden Gardens in 2005, sparking controversy and frustration among fans and players alike.

In 2003 during a Test match between India and Australia, Tendulkar was wrongly given lbw off Jason Gillespie, while TV replays showed that the ball was clearly going over the stumps. The controversial decision ended an important innings from Tendulkar, leaving everyone fuming. The second blunder took place vs Pakistan in 2005, Tendulkar was given caught out behind off Abdul Razzaq. He tried to drive a good length delivery which swung outside the off stump after pitching, and it didn't have any contact with his bat.

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The decision proved to be pivotal as it shifted the momentum of the match. Fast forward to November 2024, Sachin took to X, formerly known as Twitter, and took a dig at the former umpire. He posted a photo, where he could be taking up a batting pose in front of three trees, placed next to each other, representing wickets.

He captioned it as, "Can you guess which umpire made the stumps feel this big?"

The post triggered an explosion of responses from fans, who named Bucknor in the comment section.

Bucknor umpired a record 128 Test matches between 1989 and 2009, and also umpired 181 ODIs during this period, including five consecutive World Cup finals from 1992 to 2007. Before his umpire career, he was a football player and referee, and also a high school teacher.

He made his umpire debut in international cricket in an ODI between West Indies and India, in March 1989. His first Test was in Kingston, with the competing teams again being West Indies and India. He was selected as umpire at the 1992 World Cup, and went on to stand in the final.

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