Steyn's Sachin story stirs controversy

Dale Steyn’s claim that he dismissed Sachin Tendulkar in the 190s in 2010 has started a Twitter war.

Steyn, speaking on the Sky Sports Cricket Podcast with James Anderson about Tendulkar’s double hundred against the Proteas in Gwailor a decade ago, said: ‘He [Tendulkar] did score a lot of runs against us. He 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. Gouldy [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.”’

This claim has been strongly rebuked by a number of cricket statisticians on Twitter, with one posting a link to Cricinfo’s ball-by-ball coverage of the match, which shows no such appeal.

Respected cricket stato Rajneesh Gupta pointed out that Steyn only bowled three balls to Tendulkar in the 190s (the only balls he bowled to him after he passed the 150s) and none resulted in an LBW appeal.

He added that none of the balls Steyn bowled to Tendulkar in the match resulted in a close LBW shout.

The thread on Gupta’s post related to this has blown up, with commentators tweeting their dismay at Steyn’s false claims about India’s most beloved cricket son.

What a story,Mr. Steyn ??

– You bowled 3 balls to #SachinTendulkar when he was in 190s. All 3 were played with the bat.
– These were the only balls you bowled to him after he crossed 150.
– None of the 31 balls you bowled to him in the entire match produced a close lbw shout. pic.twitter.com/wKWZFUWvaY

— Rajneesh Gupta (@rgcricket) May 16, 2020

Steyn’s Sachin story stirs controversy

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