"Bucknor made his debut for Australia" - Harbhajan Singh slams former umpire in recall of infamous 2008 Sydney Test during 2nd BGT 2024-25 Test
Former Indian off-spinner Harbhajan Singh has slammed ex-umpire Steve Bucknor in a recall of the controversial 2008 Sydney Test during the ongoing second Border-Gavaskar Trophy Test at Adelaide. Despite the thrilling finish, the Sydney Test of 2008 is unfortunately remembered for the series of umpiring errors from Bucknor that potentially cost India the match.
Both Ricky Ponting and Andrew Symonds survived caught behinds blatantly missed by the umpire to score 55 and 162* in the first innings of the contest. Things continued to get worse for Team India as Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly were also given out to questionable calls in the final innings.
Recalling the dreaded Sydney Test of 2008 during on-air commentary, Harbhajan Singh said as quoted by Hindustan Times:
"There were a lot of edges but Bucknor saab didn’t give anything out. There were edges, there were appeals, and at one point Ricky Ponting caught one and gave it out himself. In that series, Bucknor made his debut for Australia. He played so well in that match for them. The only thing he was interested in was being the 12th man."
Meanwhile, Harbhajan was involved in the 'Monkeygate' episode with former Australian all-rounder Andrew Symonds during the Sydney Test. Eventually, the game ended with Australia pulling off a 122-run win to take a 2-0 series lead.
"Was I the first umpire to make 2 mistakes in a Test?" - Steve Bucknor
Former umpire Steve Bucknor weighed on the 2008 Sydney Test a few years back and said he made two mistakes in the game that got blown out of proportion. Yet, the ICC removed Bucknor from umpiring duties for the following Test at Perth.
In an interview with the Mid Day in 2020, Bucknor said:
"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."
Despite the Sydney howlers, a spirited Indian side bounced back to win the Perth Test before a drawn outing in Adelaide saw the four-match series end in Australia's favor by a 2-1 margin.