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Tragedy Hits Afghanistan Cricket; Elite Umpire Bismillah Shinwari Passes Away Aged 41

Aakash Saini

Afghanistan umpire Bismillah Jan Shinwari [Source: @ACBofficials/x]Afghanistan umpire Bismillah Jan Shinwari [Source: @ACBofficials/x]

Afghanistan’s international umpire Bismillah Jan Shinwari has passed away at the age of just 41 due to illness. The Afghanistan Cricket Board confirmed the shocking news in the early hours of Tuesday, July 8. The board expressed its condolences and shared sympathies for Shinwari’s family, friends and for the entire Afghanistan cricketing fraternity.

Born in March 1984, Shinwari made his international umpiring debut in December 2017. He officiated in the last of his 60 internationals just earlier this year in January during an ICC Men's Cricket World Cup League 2 game in Al Amerat.

Survivor Of Bomb Blast, Bismillah Jan Shinwari Passes Away

Bismillah Jan Shinwari, a member of Afghanistan’s elite umpiring panel, has passed away at the age of just 41. The ACB shared the news on July 8, and described Shinwari as a “great servant” of Afghan cricket. Sharing their condolences and sympathies for his family on X, the ACB also confirmed that he passed away due to an illness.

Bismillah Jan Shinwari officiated in 34 ODI matches, including nine of them as a television umpire. He also officiated in 26 T20Is between February 2018 and March 2024. He started off his international umpiring journey with an ODI match between Ireland and Afghanistan in Sharjah in December 2017.

It is worth noting that Bismillah Jan Shinwari was also reportedly a survivor of a bomb blast that took place in the Nangarhar Province in Afghanistan back in October 2020. While initial reports indicated that the umpire had been killed in the blast along with several of his family members, he himself spoke with a Bangladeshi news website to confirm that he was not killed.