New Delhi: With relation to the much-discussed judgment on Sachin Tendulkar's wicket in the 2011 World Cup semi-final in Mohali, former Pakistani spinner Saeed Ajmal has made a significant claim. When a delivery from Ajmal struck Tendulkar in the pad in front of the stumps, he had reached 23 in his batting position.

Tendulkar chose to go upstairs despite umpire Ian Gould raising his finger in response to the Pakistani players' request. The ball would have missed the leg stump, which allowed the batsman live, according to replays.

Ajmal claims that the final two frames of the replay were omitted to protect Tendulkar after more than 12 years have passed since the incident.

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"I played in the 2011 World Cup in India. If you could remember the controversial call of Sachin Tendulkar's wicket. Umpire and I still say he was out. They cut the last two frames to make the ball miss the stumps. Otherwise, it would have directly hit the middle stump," said Ajmal

Tendulkar helped India score 260 for 9 against Pakistan in 50 overs by scoring 85 runs off 115 balls. The visitors lost the game by 29 runs after being bowled out for 231 in their attempt to win.

Ajmal ended his illustrious but contentious career with 178 wickets in 35 Tests, the last of which was played in Sri Lanka's Colombo in 2014.

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2011 was his "golden year," as he excelled with the ball in all competitions, but particularly in Test matches. With 50 wickets in eight matches during the year, he held the record for most Test wickets taken.

On April 19, 2015, he played his final One-Day International against Bangladesh at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur. Ajmal had a remarkable bowling economy of 4.18 while taking 184 wickets in 113 ODIs.

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