Saeed Ajmal has weighed into the commentary on today’s (October 14) India vs Pakistan fixture, taking to social media following Mohammad Rizwan’s successful review of an lbw decision which evoked memories of his infamous non-dismissal of Sachin Tendulkar in the 2011 semi-final.
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Rizwan was new to the crease, having faced only four balls, when he was given out by Richard Illingworth lbw to Hardik Pandya. The dismissal would have spelt further trouble for Pakistan after they lost their second opener, Imam-ul-Haq, the over before. However, Rizwan sent the decision upstairs and the ball was shown to be just missing the leg stump on DRS.
Rizwan went on to score 49 before he was bowled by Jasprit Bumrah off the final ball of the 34th over.
The incident sparked memories of a similar incident from the last time Pakistan faced India in a World Cup in India. In the 2011 tournament semi-final, Sachin Tendulkar was on 23* in the tenth over, with India one wicket down when he was given out lbw to Ajmal by Ian Gould. Like Rizwan, Tendulkar sent the decision upstairs and it was shown to be missing leg stump.
Tendulkar went on to score 85 off 115 balls and India won the game by 29 runs. They ended up as Champions after beating Sri Lanka in the final. Ajmal referenced the similarities between the incident in 2011 and that of today when he posted on X (formely Twitter), “A PERFECT REVIEW TAKEN”.
A PERFECT REVIEW TAKEN #PAKvIND #WorldCup2023
— Saeed Ajmal (@REALsaeedajmal) October 14, 2023
Ajmal has expressed his doubts about the accuracy of the DRS technology since the 2011 World Cup. Last year, he said in an interview after another controversial decision during an India-South Africa Test match: “There is no way my delivery to Sachin Tendulkar from the 2011 World Cup was missing the stumps, just like the Ashwin delivery to Elgar today wasn’t missing the stumps.
“When the Sachin Tendulkar decision from the 2011 World Cup was overturned on review, I was told that the technology should be trusted & is accurate. Today, those same people are saying the technology should not be trusted and is not accurate.”
