Asad Rauf passes away following a cardiac arrest


image-l82a9i6rAsad Rauf (PC: Twitter)

Former Pakistani umpire Asad Rauf has passed away suddenly and unexpectedly due to a cardiac arrest in Lahore, as confirmed by his family on Thursday, September 15.

His brother Tahir confirmed the death of Rauf. According to Tahir, Rauf was going home after closing his shop when he had cardiac arrest, leaving him dead.

The former ICC elite panel umpire has appeared in as many as 170 international games which includes 49 Tests, 98 ODIs, and 23 T20Is. Rauf made a career out of the gentleman’s game and was part of the elite panel of the world cricket body.

He was one of the most prominent umpires in the world in the mid-2000s, having been elevated to the ICC's elite panel in 2006. Rauf remained a member of the ICC Elite Umpire Panel from 2006 to 2013.

His career was overshadowed by allegations of match-fixing and spot-fixing of cricket matches which led to him being banned for five years by the BCCI after being found guilty of corruption in February 2016. 

Rauf was named as a "wanted accused" by Mumbai police in their investigation into the IPL spot-fixing scandal. Rauf left India before the end of that IPL season and was withdrawn from the Champions Trophy. Later that year, he was dropped from the ICC's elite panel, though ICC insisted it wasn't because his name had come up as a "wanted accused" in the investigations.

Rauf remains a popular name in Pakistan Cricket as he and Aleem Dar have worked on enhancing the reputation of Pakistani umpires in world cricket.

During his playing career, he played for the National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) and Pakistan National Shipping Corporation (PNSC) averaging 28.76 from 71 First-Class matches. 


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