#2 Sachin Tendulkar given out shoulder before wicket, 1999 Adelaide
It was the first Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Adelaide in 1999. Sachin Tendulkar was leading a young Indian side and his team was under tremendous pressure chasing a target of 396 runs.
Not for the first time in the 1990s, the hope of the Indian team rested on its skipper, Tendulkar. The Little Master, who with a score of 61 was India’s highest scorer in the first innings, had come in with the score at 3/2 in the second over.
Along with Rahul Dravid, he tried to restore the Indian innings but Dravid did not last long. However, Tendulkar was still at the crease and the home team was wary of this.
Then, the infamous “shoulder before wicket” incident occurred. Tendulkar was facing Glenn McGrath and seeing the ball land in the middle of the pitch, he tried to duck side-on. The ball did not rise high enough and hit the great man on his left arm, just below the armpit.
Also read: Leg before wicket (lbw): How does it work?
Umpire Daryl Harper felt that the ball was going to hit the stumps and as a result, he adjudged Tendulkar out LBW. Now, many ignorant cricket fans were furious since they could understand how a batsman could be given out leg before when the ball had not hit his leg.
But as per Law 36 written by the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), a batsman could be given out LBW even if the ball did not hit his leg and was going to hit the stumps. However, it wasn’t just the fans, even the experts were of the opinion that the ball was not going to hit the stumps and therefore Tendulkar should not have been given out.
The dismissal did stir up a huge controversy and, needless to say, the Indians lost the match after being bowled out for 110 runs.
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