‘He would stand next to me at square leg and tell me what was out’: Taufel challenges India legend to take up umpiring

Umpiring remains one of the toughest yet thankless jobs on the cricket field. And Simon Taufel, whose career lasted for more than 13 years, had mastered the art and is hence is regarded as one of the greatest umpires of all time.

During his illustrious career, he won the ICC Umpire of the Year award for five consecutive years between 2004 and 2008. In a recent interview, Taufel revealed his discussion with an India cricket legend on taking up umpiring in the near future.

Speaking to News9 Sports, Taufel revealed that he has spoken to a few players to take up the job and in particularly talked his discussion with former India cricketer Virender Sehwag from a few years back.

He recalled Sehwag standing next to him at square leg during India games and would call on out and not out. This urged Taufel to advice Sehwag on taking up umpiring but the legendary India opener had turned down the offer.

“I remember putting it on his head a few years ago and I’m challenging Virender to take it up because he is used to umpire next to me standing at square leg and telling me what was out what not was out. But he subsequently said no, that’s not what he wants to do,” Taufel said.

He further added that besides Sehwag, India have two other players who can turn out of to great umpires.

“You have really got to have a personality and desire to want to do it. I’ve spoken to some players like Morne Morkel who’s been interested in taking up umpiring but as I said before, it’s not for everyone.

I’d love to see Virender Sehwag, maybe even Virat Kohli or Ravichandran Ashwin take it up. They seem to be very well on top of the laws and playing conditions of the game at the moment,” Taufel added.

Taufel also talked about umpiring as whole and about his new online course which is in association with the OCC Cricket Academy in Dubai.

“It’s never boring, except when you might be umpiring in a very dry environment in Karachi or similar places. There’s not much happening in terms of wickets. But what I would say is that we’ve tried to make the course engaging and umpiring itself is not for everyone.

You know, it is challenging. People say how do you concentrate for long periods of time? And the answer is, well, you don’t, you just look at bite-sized pieces. It’s very rewarding,” he said.