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 over the following seven years.
Rauf had a respectable domestic cricket career in Pakistan before to 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.
Prior to a video of Rauf selling shoes at Pakistan’s renowned Landa Bazaar going viral earlier this year, Rauf was 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.
“I work for my staff, so this isn’t for me; it’s their daily pay. There is no one left to see now because I have officiated in so many games during my life. Since 2013, I haven’t checked in on the game since, once I leave anything, I never come back to it “In June, Rauf stated in an interview with Pakistani news outlet Paktv.tv.
(With HT inputs)
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