In a recent media interaction, former umpire Ian Gould stated that he would still stick to his decision of giving Indian batting legend Sachin Tendulkar out in the 2011 World Cup semi-final against Pakistan in Mohali. Gould admitted that he could not believe it when he was asked to overturn his decision after Tendulkar opted for a review.

“When I gave him out at Mohali, I’m thinking this is out. I will sit here and guarantee you, if I see it again, I’d still give it out, simple as that. He talked to Gambhir and looked like he was going to walk out, and I’m thinking thank God for that, then he spun on his heels and made that T sign and the world stopped,” Gould told BBC 5 Live Sport.

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“Eventually, (third umpire) Billy Bowden told me ‘It’s missing leg, I need you to change your decision.’ Well, no disrespect to him, but I was watching on a 90-foot screen showing me it was missing leg by an inch so I didn’t really need his analysis. I’ve got a picture here where I’m looking slightly disgruntled or annoyed as I gave them not out,” he added.

Gould stated that an umpire’s reaction after an overturned decision is similar to that of a player who has made a costly mistake. He, however, revealed that he had managed to get his focus and concentration back on the match.

“My biggest fear after that was that I didn’t want another ball to hit anybody on the pad, my mind had gone. I had the brilliant Simon Taufel with me who kept me going. At the end of it, it’s just one of those moments,” he said.

“When the ball hit the pad, all I saw was a quicker ball from Ajmal and it thudded into the pads and went to square leg. It was just right, he’s out. Sorry, you’re out. I don’t care who you are, Sachin or anybody, you’re out. “It does affect you at some stage but what you have to do is like a player, get rid of it as soon as you can. My problem was the disbelief of that thing missing leg-stump, in my mind it was one of those straightforward ones, gone,” he said.

Gould’s LBW decision which was overturned came in the 11th over of the match bowled by Saeed Ajmal. The master blaster who was eventually dismissed by the same batsman for 85 was batting on 23 then. However, by the time he was dismissed in the 37th over he had done enough damage to help India on its way to a challenging total and that proved to the difference in the end.

“You can’t be walking through many airports when you’ve just given Sachin out LBW sliding down the leg-side. You’ll want to find a dress shop, get a wig and a beard and start limping,” said Gould.