PAKISTAN: Former Pakistani elite panel umpire Asad Rauf passed away in Lahore after suffering a cardiac arrest. Rauf was 66 years old. He officiated 64 Tests (49 on-field and 15 on-air), 139 ODIs, and 28 T20 Internationals.
Asad Rauf’s international career
Asad Rauf, who was added to the ICC’s elite panel in 2006, was one of Pakistan’s most well-known umpires in the middle of the 2000s.
He had officiated his first Test the previous year and had been on the ODI panel since 2004. In 2000, he made his ODI debut.
Before the period of neutral umpires, Asad Rauf was a well-liked character on the circuit who, along with Aleem Dar, contributed to enhancing the standing of Pakistani umpires.
However, his professional career abruptly ended in 2013 when Mumbai police listed him as a “wanted accused” in their probe into the IPL spot-fixing scam, which Rauf had been officiating.
Before the conclusion of the IPL season, Asad Rauf left India. He was later removed from the Champions Trophy, followed by the ICC elite panel.
He was dismissed from the ICC’s top panel later that year. The ICC stated that the dismissal had nothing to do with the fact that his name had come up throughout the inquiries.
Asad Rauf maintained his innocence throughout and expressed his desire to work with the ACSU. The BCCI gave Rauf a five-year suspension in 2016 due to four allegations of corruption and misbehavior.
Asad Rauf played for National Bank and Railways during his lengthy first-class career as a middle-order hitter, averaging 28.76 from 71 first-class games.
Life after cricket
Rauf was in the news until earlier this year, when a video of him selling shoes at Pakistan’s famous Landa Bazaar went viral. Rauf mentioned that 10 years after standing in his final ODI, he has lost interest in cricket and now wants to excel in his new role.
“This isn’t for me, this is the daily wages of my staff, I work for them. I’ve umpired in so many games all my life, there’s no one left to see now. I haven’t been in touch with the game since 2013, because once I leave something I leave it completely,” Rauf had said in a recent interview to a Pakistani news channel in June.
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