Simon Taufel acknowledged that he goofed up when giving Sachin Tendulkar out in the first innings of the second India-England Test at Trent Bridge. However, he didn’t think his decision against Ganguly was incorrect.


The end result was that India finally managed to win, defeating England by 7 wickets. A rare overseas victory, but oh man, what heavy weather they made of such a simple target… and Sachin also HAD to get out !!

The result proved the importance of winning the toss AND making the right decision, considering the ease with which both teams batted in three of the four innings. England were done in just because they batted first, so all credit to Dravid for putting them in. Actually, when he did that, my mind went back to the Lord’s test of 1990 when Azhar won the toss and put England in. Gooch smashed a triple century, and Kapil’s heroics notwithstanding, we lost the Test and Azhar was castigated all round for that decision.


The papers have also been full of news about the banter between players of both teams, but as long as it doesn’t exceed the limits of decency, I think it is quite ok. Cricket has always had some really hilarious moments over the years, and many cricketers have a terrific sense of humour.

Of course, in recent memory, this is one of the best ways to respond to excessive theatrics by any bowler :-)