Ian Gould recalls the fierce 'Sachin vs Steyn' battle
Former ICC umpire Ian Gould recalled some of the intense player battles he witnessed on the cricket field. He shed light on the rivalry between Sachin Tendulkar and Dale Steyn, terming it one of the most fierce battles. The 62-year-old also heaped praise on Indian skipper Virat Kohli, highlighting his demeanour. He also opened up on the controversial DRS decision of 2011 WC semi-final.
Gould reminisced the 2010-11 Cape Town Test, wherein Sachin battled out a ferocious spell from Proteas seamers. Dale Steyn continued to deliver snorters before the former slammed a 314-ball 146. His fellow team-mate Gautam Gambhir too smashed a 222-ball 93 as India settled for 364 in the first innings. Although the match was eventually drawn, it comprised of a several ground-breaking performances.
"I stood there with a brilliant umpire, Simon Taufel, and the two of us came off and said, 'Wow, we'd pay for that.' Dale bowled very quick and Sachin just had the railway sleeper in his hand and kept patting it back," Gould told ESPNcricinfo.
Gould lavished praise on the Indian captain, stating he is a "charmer". "He's a funny man. He's one of those guys who's got, a bit like Sachin Tendulkar, the whole of India on his back," Gould said. He added, "When you look at Virat, you're thinking male model, pin-up boy, but he knows about the game inside out, the past, history. Lovely guy."
Gould also talked about the controversial DRS decision in the 2011 WC Indo-Pak match. Sachin Tendulkar was initially given out lbw to Saeed Ajmal, however, the decision was overturned with the use of DRS. According to the hawk-eye, the ball missed the leg stump after hitting the front pad. A lot of former cricketers recently claimed the ball would have hit the leg stump.
Gould described how people still remind him of that decision. "Don't go down that road. I get teased about that. People send me pictures of my reaction after I was told in my ear by Billy Bowden that it was missing leg stump. But I'd give it out again with my back to the wall. I don't know what happened," he concluded.
