Sachin Tendulkar stopped Rahul Dravid from challenging Simon Taufel; The Wall 'regretted' it: 'I went to Sachin and...'

Rahul Dravid might only have seen the advent and regular use of DRS towards the back end of his career, but that only means that he has some fond memories of the technology in its nascent stage. Speaking on Ravichandran Ashwin’s YouTube channel in a ‘Kutti Stories’ episode, Dravid narrated a funny story of how he was once confused by a dismissal to such an extent that he might have been saved by DRS, if only he had gone against his partner Sachin Tendulkar’s advice. Rahul Dravid narrates the story of how Sachin Tendulkar convinced him not to take the review despite his confidence in not having edged behind during the 2011 England tour.

“There was one time where I regretted not using the DRS,” said Dravid in his interview on Ashwin’s channel. “It was during that 2011 tour in England in the Edgbaston Test. I drove Jimmy Anderson, and I heard a noise, like a tuk, but I didn't feel anything on the bat, and sometimes as a batsman, you know it, you feel it. There was a loud noise, but I didn't feel anything on the bat.”

This was an incident that occurred in the second innings of that Edgbaston Test, in which Dravid was adjudged caught behind by standing umpire Simon Taufel following a noise that was heard all around the ground. Despite being fairly confident he hadn't touched it, such was the noise that even Dravid himself was confused – as was his partner down the other end, Sachin Tendulkar.

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“There was a noise, and Simon Taufel was a respected and good umpire; you didn't really challenge him too much when he gave you decisions,” explained the legendary Indian batter. “He gave me out, and I walked to Sachin and said that I didn't feel anything.”

The moment, however, had fooled the great Sachin Tendulkar as well, as he missed the tiny piece of movement that had created the noise that confused all on the field. “Sachin said, ‘There was a big noise yaar Rahul, I am sure you smashed it.' And I thought maybe yeah, it was one of those things because I heard the noise as well.”

Dravid, Tendulkar caught out by a shoelace

Clarity would soon come as Dravid opted not to take the DRS, and instead checked out the reviews from the dressing room. It was there that he discovered that he was indeed right about not having touched the ball: the sound came not from him edging the ball behind, but rather from the tip of his shoelace hitting his bat.

“First thing I walked into the dressing room I said just show me the replay. Initially they showed the replay then the commentators picked up it was that shoelace, the hard part that hit the bat and created the noise, and the ball didn’t touch the bat at all,” said a laughing Dravid to Ashwin.

DRS would only become a fixture a couple of years after Dravid’s retirement from international cricket, with players still getting used to what could and could not be a wicket given the extra stipulations it provides. But if two great batters can find themselves confused to such a degree, maybe DRS will never prove to be an easy egg to crack, with all the strangeness cricket tends to provide.

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