Daryl Harper Recounts The Bizarre Incident Of Sachin Tendulkar In South Africa Tour 2007

Jul 25, 2020 at 1:50 PM

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Daryl Harper Recounts The Bizarre Incident Of Sachin Tendulkar In South Africa Tour 2007

In the second innings of the third Test against South Africa in 2007, Sachin Tendulkar’s delayed arrival in the field had created chaos. That match was officiated by umpire Daryl Harper who recalls the whole incident. He had represented press after the unusual event and was shocked to see media presence in the press conference.

Sachin Tendulkar was prevented by match officials from batting in his usual position because he was off the field at the end of South Africa’s first innings. He was out for 18 minutes in Proteas’ innings so he had to wait for an equivalent amount of time to return to bat in India’s innings. But with India losing their first two wickets within 12 minutes of the start of play, Tendulkar could not bat.

Sachin Tendulkar came out to bat at no.5:

Sachin Tendulkar, India tour of South Africa 2007
Sachin Tendulkar. Credits: Getty Images.

There was six minutes delay so the Proteas had demanded umpires Daryl Harper and Asad Rauf about the “timed out” rule whereby a batsman can be given out if he is not ready to face within three minutes of the previous wicket falling. But Harper had to convince the host that the delay was not deliberately. Eventually, Sachin Tendulkar went on to bat at no. 5 after Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid.

I was shocked to find 50 media person: Daryl Harper

Match umpire Daryl Harper (Photo by Mike Egerton – EMPICS/PA Images via Getty Images)

In a recent interview with Asianet Newsable, Harper recalled the press conference he had to attend after the match and said that he was surprised to see over 50 media people interested in speaking to him. He thought that there would be 10 journalists but was amazed to see the number of people attending the press conference. However, he reminded himself that it was normal for the presence of large press contingent to feed the information to the biggest cricket-obsessed nation like India.

“In Cape Town at the close of the fourth day of a Test with South Africa, I was asked to attend the media gathering to explain an unusual incident from earlier in the day when Sachin Tendulkar had been ineligible to bat when Wasim Jaffar was the second Indian wicket of the second innings,” Harper said.

“I obliged, expecting to find a gathering of possibly 10 journalists. When I took my seat and turned to answer the first question, I was shocked to find approximately 50 media representatives eagerly awaiting my answer. I reminded myself that India was on tour. The press contingent was a big audience to feed on every Indian tour,” he further added.

However, India lost the match by five wickets against South Africa eventually losing the series by 1-2.

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