World’s best umpire Simon Taufel recalls conversation with Sachin regarding a wrong umpiring decision

Even the best umpires make mistakes, but rarely. Simon Taufel, one of the greatest cricket umpires, made an error while giving Sachin Tendulkar out. During the 2007 Trent Bridge Test between India and England, Sachin was batting on 91 when he shouldered arms to a delivery from Paul Collingwood.

Taufel gave him out, but ball-tracking later showed that the ball was missing the stumps. Sachin was clearly unhappy, standing at the crease for a few moments before walking off.

World's best umpire Simon Taufel recalls conversation with Sachin regarding a wrong umpiring decision

Taufel recalled this incident on the 22 Yarns podcast with Gaurav Kapur. He admitted he made a few wrong decisions regarding Tendulkar. The morning after the match, he spoke to Sachin about the decision.

“I told him, ‘Yesterday I got it wrong.’ Sachin replied, ‘Simon, I know. You’re a good umpire, you don’t often get many wrong, it’s okay, don’t worry about it.’”

Taufel appreciated Sachin’s response and said their relationship improved after that. He also pointed out that people forget about the times when a wrong decision went in Sachin’s favor.

“In a 2005 Test against Sri Lanka in Delhi, Sachin was hit on the pads early, and I gave it not out. He went on to score a record-breaking hundred, but no one talks about that. Everyone only remembers the Trent Bridge decision.”

Taufel emphasized that mistakes happen in cricket, but respect and trust matter the most. Taufel retired in 2012 at the age of 41 to spend more time with his family. He was one of the most consistent umpires, winning the ICC Umpire of the Year award five times in a row from 2004 to 2008.

Sachin is the GOAT of cricket!

The Master Blaster is the highest run-scorer in international cricket, amassing a staggering 34,357 runs across all formats. In ODIs, he still remains the leading run-scorer with 18,426 runs, while in Test cricket, he accumulated 15,921 runs.

He achieved an incredible milestone of 100 international centuries, a feat no other cricketer has come close to. He also holds the record for the most centuries in both ODIs (49) and Tests (51). Additionally, he became the first cricketer to score a double century in ODIs, a record-breaking 200* against South Africa in 2010.