2001 Ind-Aus 2nd Test: Super show by Laxman, Dravid, Harbhajan: Umpire Bansal

By Qaiser Mohammad Ali New Delhi, Nov 25 : The historic India-Australia Kolkata Test of the 2000-01 series was Shyam Kumar Bansal’s last of his six-Test career as an umpire, and it turned out to be a see-saw battle that has gone down as one of the best Tests ever played. Bansal fondly remembers the backfoot drives of VVS Laxman, who scored a momentous 281, Rahul Dravid’s 180, and off-spinner Harbhajan Singh’s hat-trick vividly, even at the age of 80.
Almost 20 years after officiating in the match in front of a packed Eden Gardens, Bansal also recalled the jeers he received when he turned down an appeal from the Indians against Aussie tailender Jason Gillespie towards the end of the first day’s play. Gillespie and captain Steve Waugh ended up sharing a 133-run record stand for the ninth wicket that helped the visiting team pile up 445 in their first innings.
“On the second day, spectators jeered me from morning till evening. It was because towards the end of the first day’s play, Gillespie had supposedly edged a ball from pacer Venkatesh Prasad and there was a big appeal from the Indians. I could not judge that,” Bansal told IANS.
At the end of the first day, Waugh was batting on 29 and Gillespie on 6. The pair went on to add record number of runs the next day — 133, an Australian ninth-wicket record against India.
“As the Aussies scored the runs on the second day, the whole day the spectators jeered me with ‘hai hai’ slogans. Whenever I got out to the middle of the field, they would jeer me, and a similar thing would happen when I would return to the match officials’ room during lunch and tea breaks. I couldn’t do a thing. Whatever had to happen had happened,” said Bansal, who was well over 60 when he officiated in that match.
“I actually didn’t realise that I had made the supposed error. At the time, I felt that they [Indians] are probably trying to put pressure on me to declare Gillespie out,” he said, and in the loud noise emanating from the stands, it was almost impossible to hear the snicks.