Brisbane, Dec 08: Sachin Tendulkar's "graceful" acceptance of a shocker of a leg before decision during the first cricket Test against Australia prompted the media here to declare the Indian genius was akin to Don Bradman not only in technique but in spirit as well. Tendulkar was ruled leg before wicket by West Indies' umpire Steve Bucknor off a Jason Gillespie ball which TV replays showed would have missed the stumps.
As Bucknor raised the dreaded finger, it took Tendulkar completely by surprise and also the bowler, a fact later admitted by Gillespie.
Robert Caddock wrote in 'The Australian': "Tendulkar proved he is a Sir Donald Bradman clone not just in technique but in spirit. As he left he did not look back at Bucknor, nor shake his head or even try and look up at the big screen waiting for a television replay.
"It was inspiring stuff. In a season where we have heard some pretentious chest thumping about the spirit of cricket there we have a stellar example of what it all means."
Mike Coward, writing in the same newspaper, averred. "If there was ever a definitive example of the spirit of cricket... This was it."
"Thankfully Steve Bucknor is Jamaican. If he was an Australian citizen, one hell of a diplomatic row would be underway following his astonishing leg before wicket... This was an aberration, an insult to the peerless Tendulkar."
Bureau Report