The God of Cricket and the most celebrated batsman in history. Despite his calm nature, Tendulkar found himself at the center of several umpiring controversies, particularly involving Steve Bucknor.
45 incidents documented
India
May 2025
Within weeks of each other in 2025, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli — India's two greatest contemporary Test batsmen — announced their retirements from Test cricket, bringing a definitive close to one of international cricket's most celebrated batting partnerships.
India vs Bangladesh
6 October 2024
When the BCCI named Vaibhav Suryavanshi — aged 13 — in India's T20I squad against Bangladesh in October 2024, it triggered one of cricket's most heated modern debates: should a child be playing professional international cricket? The debate intensified further when Rajasthan Royals bought him for the 2025 IPL season.
India vs various
2023-11-19
Virat Kohli scored 765 runs in the 2023 World Cup — the highest aggregate in a single World Cup — including 3 centuries (tying the record for most in a single tournament), as India went unbeaten in 10 matches before falling to Australia in the final.
Rajasthan Royals vs Kings XI Punjab
25 March 2019
R. Ashwin controversially ran out Jos Buttler at the non-striker's end by removing the bails before delivering the ball.
India (internal)
20 June 2017
Anil Kumble resigned as India head coach citing an 'untenable' relationship with captain Virat Kohli, in one of the most public coach-captain breakdowns in cricket history.
India vs various
2016-10-13
Rohit Sharma is the only batsman in history to have scored three double centuries in ODI cricket — 209 vs Australia (2013), 264 vs Sri Lanka (2014), and 208* vs Sri Lanka (2016) — an achievement so statistically remote that no other player has scored more than one.
Sri Lanka vs various
2015-03-09
Kumar Sangakkara scored four consecutive centuries in the 2015 World Cup — against Bangladesh, England, Australia, and Scotland — the first batsman ever to score centuries in four consecutive matches in a World Cup, in what proved to be his farewell tournament.
India vs West Indies
2013-11-16
Sachin Tendulkar played his 200th and final Test at his home ground, Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai, retiring after 24 years of international cricket — the longest such career in history. His retirement speech, delivered in the middle of Wankhede, moved a nation to tears.
India vs Bangladesh
2012-03-16
After waiting 12 agonizing innings to reach the milestone, Sachin Tendulkar became the first player in history to score 100 international centuries — an achievement that is statistically the most distant landmark from any other player in cricket.
India vs Australia
2012-02-29
Virat Kohli's 2012 CB Series in Australia announced him to the world as cricket's next great batsman — scoring 230 runs across three successive run-chases, including 133* to chase 316, 75 to chase 270, and 66 to chase 321 — an unprecedented sequence of successful chases.
India vs Pakistan
30 March 2011
Sachin Tendulkar survived multiple contentious decisions in the World Cup semi-final against Pakistan, including a caught-behind appeal that Pakistan chose not to review.
India vs Sri Lanka
2 April 2011
Sachin Tendulkar survived an LBW decision via DRS review in the 2011 World Cup Final, with ball tracking showing the ball just missing the stumps.
Australia vs India
24 March 2011
Shane Watson was given not out on a clear LBW off Zaheer Khan early in the 2011 WC quarter-final. He went on to score 25 but the early reprieve allowed Australia to build their innings. India successfully chased 260 to win by 5 wickets.
Australia vs India
24 March 2011
Shane Watson was given not out LBW to Zaheer Khan early in Australia's innings when replays showed the ball hitting middle stump. No DRS existed. Watson scored 25 and Australia posted 260. India successfully chased but the error gifted Australia extra runs and made the chase far more difficult.
India vs Various
6 April 2011
Sachin Tendulkar showed visible frustration with umpiring decisions on multiple occasions, particularly with Billy Bowden, despite his generally calm demeanour.
India vs Sri Lanka
2011-04-02
MS Dhoni promoted himself up the batting order and hit Nuwan Kulasekara for six over long-on to win India's second World Cup — the first on home soil, 28 years after the 1983 win. The moment fulfilled a nation's dream and carried the weight of Sachin Tendulkar's final World Cup.
India vs Pakistan
2011-03-30
India beat Pakistan by 29 runs in the 2011 World Cup semi-final at Mohali — the most watched cricket match in history, televised to an estimated 988 million viewers globally, with both Prime Ministers watching from the same stand.
India vs South Africa
2010-02-24
Sachin Tendulkar became the first batsman in history to score a double century in ODI cricket, making 200 not out off 147 balls against South Africa — a record that many thought was statistically impossible.
Australia vs India
2-6 January 2008
One of the most controversial Tests ever — terrible umpiring decisions, racial abuse allegations, and India threatening to abandon the tour.
Australia vs India
6 January 2008
Andrew Symonds accused Harbhajan Singh of calling him a 'monkey' during the infamous Sydney Test, triggering one of cricket's biggest racial controversies.
India vs Pakistan
28 March - 1 April 2004
Sachin Tendulkar was controversially declared caught behind for 194 when replays suggested the ball may not have hit his bat, denying him a double century in Pakistan.
India vs Pakistan and Sri Lanka
2004-03-29
Virender Sehwag scored 309 against Pakistan at Multan in 2004 and 319 against South Africa at Chennai in 2008 — the only batsman in history to score two Test triple centuries, each innings remarkable for the extraordinary strike rate at which they were scored.
India vs England
1 March 2003
Sachin Tendulkar was given out LBW off a ball that appeared to be going well over the stumps, sparking outrage among Indian fans.
India vs Kenya
18 March 2003
Steve Bucknor's umpiring during the 2003 World Cup reinforced his reputation as an umpire who frequently made errors in high-profile matches involving India.
India vs Pakistan
1 March 2003
In the 2003 World Cup India-Pakistan match, Sachin Tendulkar was bowled by Shoaib Akhtar early in his innings, but Pakistan failed to appeal for an LBW earlier, and there were claims Akhtar was overstepping throughout.
Australia vs India
23 March 2003
Ricky Ponting edged Zaheer Khan to Rahul Dravid early in his innings but umpire Rudi Koertzen gave it not out. Ponting went on to score 140* as Australia posted 359/2 and won by 125 runs.
India vs Pakistan
1 March 2003
Shoaib Akhtar bowled what was then the world's fastest delivery — 100.2mph — to Sachin Tendulkar in the 2003 World Cup India-Pakistan match at Centurion. Tendulkar hit it for six over fine leg. One of cricket's most memorable individual ball-batsman duels: the fastest bowler on earth versus the greatest batsman of the generation.
Australia vs India
2003-03-23
Ricky Ponting made 140 not out off 121 balls as Australia made 359/2 in the World Cup final — the highest team total in a World Cup final — before bowling India out for 234 to win by 125 runs and complete a second consecutive World Cup triumph.
India vs Pakistan
2003-03-01
Sachin Tendulkar hit Shoaib Akhtar — the world's fastest bowler — for a six over third man off a 93mph delivery in the most politically charged ODI in history, setting up a 6-wicket Indian win watched by 300 million viewers.
South Africa vs India
18 November 2001
Makhaya Ntini bowled a ferocious short-pitched spell at Sachin Tendulkar during India's 2001 tour of South Africa. Ntini hit Tendulkar on the helmet and body multiple times, drawing blood in one delivery. Tendulkar's refusal to yield and subsequent boundary hitting off the back foot made the exchange one of the great individual confrontations of the tour.
India vs South Africa
16 November 2001
Sachin Tendulkar was charged with ball tampering by match referee Mike Denness during a Test in South Africa, causing a diplomatic crisis between India and the ICC.
India vs South Africa
20 November 2001
Match referee Mike Denness charged Sachin Tendulkar with ball tampering and imposed bans on six Indian players after the Port Elizabeth Test, leading India to demand Denness' removal and nearly causing a diplomatic crisis.
India vs Pakistan
8 June 1999
Sachin Tendulkar was given out caught behind in the high-stakes India-Pakistan World Cup match despite replays suggesting the ball brushed his pad, not bat.
India vs South Africa
1999-06-05
Herschelle Gibbs dropped a catch off Sachin Tendulkar after celebrating prematurely, reportedly prompting Tendulkar to tell him 'You've just dropped the World Cup, mate.'
India vs Australia
22 April 1998
In the first of the two Sharjah finals, Sachin Tendulkar was given out LBW to a ball that appeared to be heading down leg. The decision denied fans a potentially historic innings.
India vs Australia
6-10 March 1998
Michael Slater claimed a low catch to dismiss Sachin Tendulkar, but replays suggested the ball had bounced before reaching his hands. The on-field decision was out.
India vs Australia
1998-02-28
Shane Warne's admission that Sachin Tendulkar occupied his thoughts 'even in his dreams' before the 1998 India series epitomised one of cricket's great personal duels — a rivalry that Tendulkar spectacularly resolved by mastering Warne through meticulous preparation.
India vs Australia
1998-04-22
In the space of three days, Sachin Tendulkar hit two centuries against Australia in Sharjah — one in a qualifying match against a desert sandstorm, one in the final — comprehensively destroying Shane Warne's aura and cementing his status as the world's greatest batsman.
India vs Australia
1998-01-24
The 1998 India-Australia Test series produced the greatest sustained individual duel in cricket history — Sachin Tendulkar vs Shane Warne — with Tendulkar making 446 runs in the three-Test series, including 155 not out and 177, dominating the world's greatest bowler on his home grounds.
India (internal)
1 January 1997
Sachin Tendulkar's brief and unhappy stint as India captain in the late 1990s, replacing Azharuddin, was marked by poor results, factional politics, and the eventual return of captaincy to Azharuddin.
India vs West Indies
1996-03-09
Curtly Ambrose's short-pitched assault on Sachin Tendulkar during the 1996 World Cup quarter-final — targeting the world's best batsman with rising deliveries at his throat — produced a masterclass of fast bowling pressure that Tendulkar resisted before eventually being dismissed.
India vs Sri Lanka
13 March 1996
The 1996 World Cup semi-final at Eden Gardens was abandoned after Indian fans rioted, hurling bottles and setting fires when India's batting collapsed against Sri Lanka's spinners.
India vs West Indies
October 1994
Curtly Ambrose and Courtney Walsh were repeatedly denied plumb LBW appeals by Indian home umpires throughout West Indies' 1994 tour of India. The era of home umpire bias was at its height before neutral umpires became mandatory in 2002.
India vs West Indies
1994-11-05
Courtney Walsh and Curtly Ambrose's sustained pace assault on the young Sachin Tendulkar in the 1994 series — targeting him with bouncers and lifting deliveries from perfect lengths — tested Tendulkar at a formative stage of his career with one of history's great pace combinations.
India vs Pakistan
1989-11-15
Sachin Tendulkar made his Test debut aged 16 years and 205 days against Pakistan in Karachi — facing Waqar Younis, Wasim Akram, and Imran Khan — becoming one of the youngest Test debutants in history and beginning the most storied career in cricket.