Umpire Steve Bucknor had accepted his mistake during the controversial 2008 Sydney Test but it does not go well with Irfan Pathan, who was the part of that match.
Sydney Test 2008 between India and Australia made headlines for the jibe between Harbhajan Singh and Andrew Symonds, known as monkeygate scandal. The Test match was also criticised for Umpiring mistakes. Steve Bucknor, who had officiated that match, accepted his two mistakes which costed India, who eventually lost the match by 122 runs.
Steve Bucknor’s statement:
Bucknor is understood to be referring to the decision to not give Symonds out when he had been caught behind off Ishant Sharma when he was on 30. Symonds went on to score 162, and give Australia a foothold in the match.
“I made two mistakes in the Sydney Test in 2008. Mistake one, which happened when India were doing well, allowed an Australian batsman to get a hundred,” said Steve Bucknor.
Bucknor has cost us the game: Irfan Pathan
Irfan Pathan seems unbothered with Bucknor’s acceptance. He said that nothing could be changed now and the past is past. Pathan’s pain was visible who wished that if Andrew Symond was given out they would have created history.
“As a cricketer, we’re used to getting bad decisions, sometimes in our bowling, sometimes in our batting. And we get frustrated by that and then we forget about it. But this Sydney Test match, it was not just one mistake. There were about seven mistakes that cost us the game. There were mistakes where Andrew Symonds was playing, and he got out nearly, I remember, three times, and the umpire didn’t give him out.
“He was the Man of the Match, we lost by 122 runs. If only one decision against Andrew Symonds would have been corrected, we would have won that game easily.”
Although he accepted that umpire’s make mistake, Irfan Pathan can’t get over the fact that not one but seven wrong decisions were made. The former allrounder seems to be still fresh as he recalls that all the Indian cricketers were angry.
“For the first time, I saw Indian cricketers were angry. Fans had only one thing in mind – that they [umpires] were doing it purposely. Obviously, as a cricketer, we can’t think like that.
“We’ve to think, ‘OK. These things happen, and we’ve to move forward’. But seven mistakes? Are you kidding me? That was unbelievable and indigestible for us.”
The Indian team complained against Bucknor and Benson’s umpiring in the match which led to their removal for the next Test at Perth which India won by 72 runs but a draw in Adelaide saw Australia clinch the series 2-1.