Asad Rauf an umpire from Pakistan died due to cardiac arrest at the age of 66 today in Lahore.
Asad Rauf the famous umpire from Pakistan died suffering from a cardiac arrest today in Lahore at the age of 66.
Rauf did his first appearance as an umpire in 2000 in international cricket. He was considered one of the leading umpires of Pakistan during the 2000s when he was in charge of 64 tests (49 as an on-field umpire and 15 as a TV umpire) adding 139 ODI, and 28 T20s.
According to his family member, he suffered a cardiac arrest on Wednesday night and was taken to the hospital where he had his last breaths.
Rauf’s brother stated from Lahore “he had not been feeling well for the last couple of days while running his business and coming home early. The doctor said he had a cardiac arrest”.
He will have his funeral rituals done on Thursday and will be buried in Lahore.
Rauf on the other hand was also a first-class batter and also toured with the Pakistan team but did not play any international or test matches.
He even played for National Bank and Railways where he had 71 first-class matches before he turned himself into a professional umpire.
As Rauf was having his peak time in the umpiring world alongside his mate Aleem Dar he was accused of being involved in corruption and misconduct in the Indian premier league (IPL) which led him to be banned by the BCCI (Board for Control for Cricket in India) in 2016.
Even though Rauf was banned by the BCCI he was accused by the Mumbai Police of being involved in the IPL spot-fixing scandal in 2013.
Also, he had many accusations that he used to take many gifts and bribes of lump sum amount to fix matches, which is considered as a crime in the cricket world.
Rauf was involved in so many scandals in the cricket world that he breached the ICC’s (International Cricket Council) anti-corruption code and was withdrawn from the Champions Trophy and ICC elite panel.
After Being banned by the BCCI Rauf’s umpiring career came to an end and also PCB (Pakistan Cricket Board) made him banned from any domestic or cricket-related activities in Pakistan.
Famous retired cricketer Ramiz Raja also showed his grief by tweeting “Saddened to hear about the passing of Asad Rauf. Not only was he a good umpire he had a wicked sense of humor. He always puts a smile on my face and will continue to do so whenever I think about him. Many sympathies with his family for their loss”.
Kamran Akmal a renowned Pakistani cricketer stated his grief by tweeting “Sad to know about the news about former ICC Umpire Asad Rauf’s demise… May Allah grants him Magfirat and gives his family sabr Ameen”.
Faisal Iqbal tweeted about his demise saying “really sad to hear the sudden death of Asad Rauf Bhai (former @ICC and @TherealPCB umpire) a dear friend with whom I have cherished memories on the field in domestic and international cricket may Allah rest his soul in peace and grant him Jannat and saber to his family Ameen”.
Yasir Ahmad a former Pakistani Cricketer even tweeted about the dismissal of Asad Rauf by saying” Sad to know about the demise of ex-international umpire Asad Rauf. May Allah grant him Jannah and give sabar to his family”.
