'Steve Bucknor wasn't around?': Sachin Tendulkar, Glenn McGrath's unexpected collab a laugh riot but one change demanded

For every 90s kid growing up, the battle between Sachin Tendulkar and Glenn McGrath was the peak of any cricketing rivalry. McGrath vs Tendulkar was nothing like world cricket had ever seen. Sachin was up against the likes of Allan Donald, Wasim Akram, Chaminda Vaas and Shane Warne, but no feud was as gripping and captivating as Tendulkar vs McGrath.

The contest wasn't too big until 1999, when McGrath really came into his elements. He and Sachin had faced off multiple times before, but McGrath was absent from Australia's line-up when Tendulkar smashed 155 in Chennai and played those two timeless Sharjah innings in 1998. When Tendulkar and McGrath finally came face to face in the 1999 World Cup, the Aussie pacer won the round, dismissing Sachin for a duck. From that moment, the rivalry took off and never looked back.

Hence, when Tendulkar and McGrath, after all these years, came together from an endorsement, it instantly lit up the moods of those 90s kids-turned-mid-30-something adults. In the commercial, McGrath is seen asking Sachin if he's still mad about the infamous 'Shoulder Before Wicket' dismissal of Tendulkar, to which the Master Blaster stands his ground 26 years later. "You need to get your eyes tested," he tells McGrath. When the Aussie legend refuses to budge from his stance, a lady interrupts him and tells him he's in the wrong seat; Sachin's statement proves correct.

As hilarious as the commercial is, and couldn't have pitted two individuals more suited for the role, fans demanded that Steve Bucknor should have been cast in the advertisement instead of McGrath, given the umpire's poor record against Tendulkar. Here are some of the posts.

Bucknor shared a bizarre relationship with Sachin, wrongly adjudging him out when Tendulkar clearly wasn't. The first instance dates back to 2003, when in Brisbane, Bucknor raised his finger to give Tendulkar out LBW when the ball clearly seemed to be missing the stumps. Tendulkar shouldered arms to a delivery from Jason Gillespie, which rapped Sachin high on the pads. The replay showed that the ball would have gone at least 10 inches above the stump but Bucknor clearly thought otherwise. Even Tendulkar, who hardly reacted at umpire's decisions, was left shellshocked

Two years later, Bucknor returned to haunt Sachin again – this time in a Test match against Pakistan at Eden Gardens. Abdul Razzaq got a ball to miss Tendulkar's bat – there was daylight between the two but Bucknor, after a half-hearted appeal, gave Tendulkar out. Sachin was furious, somehow controlling his anger as he walked back to the change room.

Tendulkar's dig at Bucknor

Just last year, Tendulkar cracked up the internet by indirectly mentioning Bucknor. He took to X (formerly Twitter) to playfully poke fun at a former umpire. He shared a photo of himself in a batting stance, positioned in front of three closely placed trees resembling wickets.

Captioning the post, he wrote, "Can you guess which umpire made the stumps feel this big?"

The witty dig sparked a flood of responses from fans, with many instantly naming Steve Bucknor in the comments. Bucknor officiated a record 128 Test matches between 1989 and 2009, along with 181 ODIs, including five consecutive World Cup finals from 1992 to 2007. Before his umpiring career, he was a footballer, referee, and high school teacher.