“Time for an Umpire’s Call” – Sachin Tendulkar reacts to Vinesh Phogat’s Olympic heartbreak
Former Team India batter Sachin Tendulkar hopes that wrestler Vinesh Phogat will be awarded a silver medal following her appeal with the Court of Arbitration of Sport (CAS). Vinesh was disqualified from the women's 50kg wrestling event due to being overweight by 100 grams on the second day's weigh-in, losing out on a well-deserved medal.
Notably, she was within the weight limit on the first day of the event and bulldozed through three wrestlers to reach the gold medal bout. Tendulkar believes that just like laws in cricket, wrestling rules also need to be amended at times, which he thinks robbed Vinesh of a ‘deserving silver medal’.
The legendary cricketer added that the rule ‘defied logic and sporting sense’. On Saturday, August 9, Sachin Tendulkar wrote on X (formerly Twitter):
“Time for an Umpire’s Call! Every sport has rules and those rules need to be seen in context, maybe even revisited at times. Vinesh Phogat qualified fairly and square for the finals. Her disqualification by weight, was before the finals, and hence, for her to be robbed of a deserving silver medal defies logic and sporting sense."
Tendulkar pointed out that Vinesh didn’t use unethical ways but won fairly against her opponents to qualify for the final. The 51-year-old is hopeful that the CAS will provide justice to Vinesh. He added:
“It would have been understandable if an athlete were to have been disqualified for ethical breaches such as the usage of performance enhancing drugs. In that case, to not be awarded any medal and be placed last would be justifiable. However, Vinesh beat her opponents fairly to reach the top two. She definitely deserves a silver medal.
“While we all wait for a verdict from the Court of Arbitration of Sport, let us hope and pray that Vinesh gets the recognition she deserves.”
“100 grams if you see is nothing” – Harbhajan Singh echoes similar sentiments as Sachin Tendulkar
Former India spinner Harbhajan Singh echoed similar sentiments as Sachin Tendulkar regarding Vinesh Phogat’s disqualification from the Olympic event. The cricketer-turned-commentator recently told PTI:
"It's very disappointing and very sad to see Vinesh not being able to play in the final just because she had little bit overweight... 100 grams if you see is nothing... but rules are sch in Olympics, they are everyone.
"So, obviously as an athlete she must be going through a lot. All we can say is that we stand with her in this difficult period and hopefully she will recover one day..."
Besides being former cricketers, they have served as Members of the Rajya Sabha (Upper House of Parliament). Sachin Tendulkar was MP from 2012 to 2018, while Harbhajan Singh has been serving in the same role since 2022. The duo also won the 2011 ODI World Cup together, while the spinner helped Team India win the 2007 T20 World Cup as well.
Meanwhile, Vinesh Phogat has announced her retirement from the sport following the heartbreak.