Asad Rauf, a former Pakistani elite ICC umpire who presided over 231 international games during a 13-year period, passed away in Lahore after a cardiac arrest. He was 66. Rauf, who started officiating in the year 2000, was elevated to the ICC’s elite panel in 2006 and went on to become one of Pakistan’s most well-known umpires during the following seven years.
Along with Aleem Dar, Rauf’s ascent gave Pakistan’s umpiring panel a new identity and improved its reputation, which had been damaged for years by its subpar performance. Rauf first officiated the First-Class game in 1998 before taking the bench for his first ODI two years later. Rauf was promoted to the ODI panel in 2004, and the following year, in 2005, he officiated his first Test match.
Rauf continued to officiate games at the highest level until 2013 when the 2013 IPL spot-fixing scandal brought an end to his career. Rauf’s umpiring career was ruined by the fact that he was one of the wanted accused by the Mumbai police. Rauf was prohibited by the BCCI three years later, in 2016, after he was found accountable for engaging in unethical behavior and interfering with play. He was charged with participating in the 2013 IPL spot-fixing incident as well as collecting gifts from bookmakers. The previous year, Rauf was also accused of sexual exploitation by a Mumbai-based model who said that he had pledged to marry her but then changed his mind.
Rauf had a respectable domestic cricket career in Pakistan before taking up umpiring. Rauf was a dominant right-handed batter in the 1980s, scoring 3423 runs from 71 First-Class games and 611 runs from 40 List-A games. Rauf had a breakthrough year in the 1986–1987 season, scoring 673 runs at an average of 35.36, including five fifties and one century. However, because of his terrible play, he was only able to play cricket for another year before switching to umpiring.
Until a video of Rauf selling shoes at Pakistan’s renowned Landa Bazaar went viral earlier this year, he had not been in the news. Rauf claimed that ten years after playing in his final ODI, he had stopped caring about cricket and was eager to succeed in his new position.
News Mania Desk
