Reminiscing about Sachin Tendulkar’s record-breaking ODI in Gwalior, Dale Steyn quipped that umpire Ian Gould did not give Tendulkar out because Gould feared the home crowd.
Speaking on the Sky Sports Cricket Podcast with James Anderson, Steyn said he had got Tendulkar’s wicket minutes before he scored the first 200, but Gould did not grant him the wicket, saying he wanted to “make it back to the hotel.”
“Tendulkar scored the first double hundred in ODI cricket, and it was against us in Gwalior. And I actually remember – I think I got him out lbw when he was about 190 odd. Ian Gould was the umpire, and he gave him not out.
“And I was like, ‘Why, why did you give him not out!? That’s so dead.’ And he was like, ‘Mate, look around – if I gave him out, I won’t make it back to the hotel.'”
In 2010, Sachin Tendulkar’s first double century in ODI cricket helped India to score 401/3, resulting in South Africa losing the match for 153 runs
Speaking about the challenge of bowling to Tendulkar in front of a home crowd, Steyn said “You bowl a bad bowl, and he hits you for four—he’s on nought and he hits you for four in Mumbai, it feels like the world is closing in on you. He’s only on four not out, he may as well have been on 500.”