5 of Sachin Tendulkar's unluckiest dismissals

Unlucky, unfortunate and ill-fated are words normally attributed to mere mortals, but not to gods. Attaching the same to the god of cricket would be nothing less than blasphemous. For all his gargantuan achievements in cricket, Sachin Tendulkar was not someone who could always ride his luck.

Over the course of his career, he was a victim of dubious umpiring decisions quite often. In hindsight, it is safe to say that his already spotless career could have been even better had a few wrong decisions gone the right way.

In this endeavour, we take a look at five of his most controversial dismissals:

#1 134 vs Australia at Sharjah, 1998

The Coca-Cola Cup in Sharjah was a fiercely contested tri-series between India, Australia and New Zealand. With Australia winning all their group matches and ensuring a berth in the final, it was a toss-up between India and New Zealand for the second spot.

Riding on Sachin’s famous 143 in the penultimate match of the series, India went on to face the mighty Aussies in the final.

In the final, Australia batted first and posted a formidable score of 284/7 in 50 overs. In reply, even though India lost Sourav Ganguly early, a partnership between Sachin and Mongia ensured that India stayed on course.

Sachin was once again at his imperious best, cracking boundaries at will all around the park. He compiled useful partnerships with Mohammad Azharuddin and VVS Laxman, before falling victim to a horrendous lbw decision off the bowling of Michael Kasprowicz. He was given out lbw to a ball that had hit him way outside the off stump.

Nevertheless, the platform was already set for a massive Indian win. With Laxman and Kanitkar completing the formalities, India went on to lift the trophy. Incidentally, it was also Sachin’s 25th birthday. A fitting tribute to the champion.