Indian cricket has seen its fair share of controversial umpiring decisions over the years, but one challenge still stands out as uniquely perplexing. It happened in 2007 during a match between India and South Africa at the Belfast Oval when veteran umpire Aleem Dar made a decision that still stirs debate almost two decades later. Widely respected and long regarded as one of the best umpires the game has produced, Aleem Dar was at the center of a moment that perfectly illustrated the saying that even the best can be wrong. South Africa’s young batting prodigy AB de Villiers, then just 23, was hugely disappointed despite clearly keeping the ball when he was yet to open his account.
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The match was affected by rain, reduced to 31 overs per side. South Africa were already in trouble at 8 for 2, losing Jacques Kallis and opener Morne van Wyk for ducks. On the first delivery of the fifth over, Zaheer Khan bowled a ball that was cut sharply by de Villiers. The edge at second slip flew to Sachin Tendulkar who completed a clean catch. There wasn’t much confusion about the resignation. The sound of the edge was loud enough to be picked up by the stump mic and the deviation from the bat was clearly visible. It was the kind of goal that rarely requires thinking. However, to the astonishment of the Indian players, Dar ruled out de Villiers not being sent off. The reaction on the pitch spoke volumes. Tendulkar stood visibly stunned as captain Sourav Ganguly and the rest of the field team looked on in disbelief as the umpire stood firm in his decision. De Villiers ended up scoring 15 before being dismissed and India won the series 2–1. Yet the moment has endured as one of the most talked about incidents of de Villiers’ career even after 18 years.
contributed by Herschelle Gibbs
Herschelle Gibbs, who was at the non-striker’s end at the time, later admitted that he too was shocked by the decision. Responding to the video of the incident at X, Gibbs recalled, “I was on the other end, I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. AB said he hit the pads.” The Belfast series, played for the Future Cup, came immediately after India’s disastrous World Cup campaign in 2007. Following the dismissal of Greg Chappell, India traveled to Ireland without a head coach, with Rahul Dravid continuing as captain. Despite the turbulence, Sachin Tendulkar proved to be an outstanding player and won the Player of the Series award after scoring 200 runs, including knocks of 99 and 93 in the first two matches, as well as taking two wickets.
