The rivalry between India and Australia has become part of cricketing folklore over the past two decades. The Aussies had always been ruthless against India, till the historic Test series in 2001, when the Sourav Ganguly-led Indian side came from behind to turn the tables on the visitors.
From then on, almost every India-Australia series have been billed as a 'revenge' series, with plenty of banter on and off the field, and some hard cricket. The four-Test series between the two countries, in Australia in 2007-08, was one such hard-fought contest, which the hosts won 2-1.
How Bucknor's 'mistakes' proved costly for India
The Aussies steamrolled Anil Kumble-led India in the first Test at Melbourne, by 337 runs. In the second Test played at Sydney in 2008, India were in with a great chance, having reduced Australia to 134/6, but Andrew Symonds scored an unbeaten 162 to take his team to 463. The all-rounder, much to India's despair, got a reprieve on 30 when he edged an Ishant Sharma deliver to wicketkeeper Mahendra Singh Dhoni, but umpire Steve Bucknor turned down the appeal.
In reply to the Australia's first innings total, India made 532, with centuries from VVS Laxman and Sachin Tendulkar, and a half century from Ganguly. Australia declared their second innings on 401/7, leaving India a target of 333. Fighting to save the match, India were dealt a huge blow when their mainstay Rahul Dravid was wrongly given out caught behind by Bucknor, with the scoreboard reading 115/3. India were bowled out for 210.
In an interview with Mid-Day, Bucknor spoke about the umpiring errors he made in that infamous Test. "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. Mistake two, on day five, might have cost India the game. But still, they are two mistakes over five days. Was I the first umpire to make two mistakes in a Test? Still, those two mistakes seem to have haunted me.
"You need to know why mistakes are made," Bucknor said. "You don't want to make similar mistakes again. I am not giving excuses but there are times when the wind is blowing down the pitch and the sound travels with the wind. The commentators hear the nick from the stump mic but the umpires may not be sure. These are things spectators won't know."
Bad umpiring and 'Monkeygate'
Along with Bucknor, the other on-field umpire Mark Benson, too, was guilty of several questionable decisions. Between the two of them, and the third umpire Bruce Oxenford, there were at least a whopping nine wrong decisions in the match! India were at the receiving end in majority of them. The Indian team complained about the umpiring, and, consequently, the duo were removed from duty in the next Test at Perth, which India won by 72 runs.
And if umpiring shockers were not enough, the match was marred by allegations of racism, after Symonds accused off-spinner Harbhajan Singh, who was batting with Tendulkar then, of calling him a 'monkey'. The incident created a lot of bad blood between the two teams, with Kumble, in a post-match press conference, famously saying,“Only one team was playing in the spirit of the game, that’s all I can say.” The Australian team pressed racism charges against Singh, and match referee Mike Procter handed the off-spinner a three-match ban. The Indian team threatened to pull out of the tour, following which an official court hearing was conducted. ICC appeals commissioner Justice John Hansen, eventually, found Singh ‘not guilty’ of racially abusing Symonds and the three-match ban was overturned. The off-spinner was instead slapped with a 50 per cent match fee fine. The Aussies expressed disappointment with the court verdict, but the tour went on.
