Former ICC elite umpire Asad Rauf of Pakistan passed away due to cardiac arrest on September 15, 2022. Rauf was 66 years old. He officiated in 64 Tests (49 as on-field umpire and 15 as TV umpire), 139 ODIs, and 28 T20Is.
As reported by 24NewsHD TV, his brother Tahir confirmed the sad news of his demise and said that Rauf was going back home after shutting his shop when he felt chest pain. The former ICC umpire suffered a cardiac arrest and couldn't survive.
One of the most prominent umpires in the 2000s, he was elevated to ICC's elite panel in 2006. He had officiated in his first Test the previous year, and been on the ODI panel since 2004, having stood in his first ODI in 2000.
He also officiated in 40 First Class matches, 26 List A matches, and 89 T20s overall, including IPL matches. Before turning to officiating in matches, Rauf played 71 First Class matches, scoring 3423 runs. He played 40 List A matches, scoring 611 runs.
Along with Aleem Dar, he was one of the most popular umpires from Pakistan and did his bit in improving the reputation of Pakistani umpires before the neutral umpires’ era.
The Pakistan Cricket Board posted a tweet paying rich tributes to Rauf which read: “The PCB expresses its grief on the demise of former first-class cricketer and elite panel umpire Asad Rauf. Asad played 71 first-class matches and umpired in 170 international matches, including 2007 and 2011 World Cups matches.”
Apart from the PCB, several Pakistani and Indian cricketers took to Twitter to pay their tributes and condolences to the late ICC elite panel umpire.
Here are the tweets:
