Officiating Indo-Pak matches was intimidating: Ian Gould

The former International Cricket Council (ICC) Elite Panel Umpire Ian Gould, in an interview with ESPNCricinfo, recalled his experience of officiating in matches between the arch-rivals India and Pakistan.

Gould, who is now retired after umpiring in 251 international matches, felt the pressure from the crowd was ‘intimidating’ during the aforementioned high-profile encounters.

“It’s intimidating. Not the players. The players are outstanding people. I’ve done seven, eight India-Pakistan games and the guys are real good people. They get on with each other,” said Gould. “If you allow a crowd to get to you, all that noise and Mexican waves, or whatever, can distract you. Then you start missing bits and pieces and it’s a difficult place to be.”

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Last month, Gould, in an interview with BBC 5 Live Sport, created a media stir after he revealed that he would stick with his original decision, while referring to his infamously overturned lbw decision after Pakistan’s former off-spinner Saeed Ajmal caught Tendulkar on the pads, during the 2011 World Cup semi-final between the two countries in Mohali.

"When I gave him [Tendulkar] 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 said.

The former umpire stated that he was in disbelief after he saw the ball missing the leg-stump during the review and feared another ball hitting the pads after that overturned decision.

“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. “My biggest fear after that was that I didn't want another ball to hit anybody on the pad, my mind had gone.”

"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,” he added.