Aleem Dar adjudged best umpire for third year running

By Syed Khalid Mahmood

Gone are the days when umpiring in cricket was condemned to be a thankless job. In the past, when the home umpires used to supervise Tests and One-day Internationals, it was a real tough job at hand with the administrators as well as the spectators expecting decisions of their choice.

The likes of Aleem Dar and Simon Taufel, representatives of the new crop of umpires, are fortunate to be standing in an era when they have to act neutrally and that too under the umbrella of a powerful match referee, designated by the International Cricket Council (ICC).

Cricket umpiring no more is just another profession with the men in white coat getting peanuts for braving so much pressure for five days on a trot during a Test match. It has become a very rewarding job, particularly for those having made it to the top.

The umpires in the ICC elite panel are in high demand throughout the year with so much international cricket going on of late. They are not only financially rewarded but also earn recognition for their performance in the different corners of the world, which is monitored closely.

The modern umpires, however, are challenged if not threatened by the excessive use of technology which has been experimented with mixed results during the last years. It goes to the credit of the top umpires who have kept performing day in and day out.

Pakistan’s Aleem Dar remains a picture of confidence all along in the cricket field and his decision-making has been spot on most of the times. It came as no surprise to me when he was handed over the David Shepherd Trophy for the Umpire of the Year for third year running in the ICC Awards ceremony held recently in London.

He outshined Australia’s Simon Taufel, who holds the record of winning the award five times, once more. If he continues to deliver in the manner he has been doing, there’s very little doubt in anyone’s mind about him overtaking this record in not too distant future.

Aleem Dar is only 43 at the moment and in all likelihood he should be standing in the middle for many more years. He looks the fittest of all umpires and his grace and poise in the field are second to none. He may take an extra second or two before making a judgment but mostly they are perfect.

Taufel was alright in the list of top umpires, nominated for the award, but there looked an element of surprise in the selection of Ian Gould and Steve Davis. The nomination of Davis seemed staggering for he had given two horrible leg-before decisions on successive deliveries in an India-New Zealand Test match last season.

If my memory serves me right VVS Laxman and Zaheer Khan were at the receiving end with the then New Zealand skipper, Daniel Vettori, being the beneficiary on both occasions.

Thankfully Davis was not chosen for the award, which was deservedly won by Aleem Dar, voted by the 10 Full Member captains as well as eight-man elite panel of ICC match referees.

Aleem Dar has had to spend eight months away from his family, based in Lahore, but he has certainly made them and the entire nation proud by his accomplishments.

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Thoroughly deserved reward for Aleem Dar

Syed Khalid Mahmood

Pakistan ’s Aleem Dar had been recognized as one of the best umpires in the cricket world for quite a few years and it seemed a matter of time for him to be declared the best in the business officially.

Arguably the greatest cricket umpire to have been produced by the country, the super fit and ever smiling Aleem has earned the kind of respect in every nook and corner of the globe that very few colleagues could come close.

Only Simon Taufel of Australia matches his brilliance. Both of them have a few rare qualities in common that enable them to come to terms with the pressure-cooker situations where ordinary mortals run the risk of faltering.

It’s in the fitness of things that Aleem has replaced Taufel as the best cricket umpire in the world. The Australian was crowned as the ICC Umpire of the Year for the past four years but now the award has been clinched by Aleem.

A beaming Aleem received the coveted award from the ICC Chief Executive, Haroon Logart, in the recent ceremony in Johannesburg . He was as cool and confident as he’s standing in the middle when Ravi Shastri asked him a few questions at the stage.

The modest and unassuming character that he always is, Aleem mentioned the contribution of his family and friends in his rise to fame. His only ‘regret’ appeared to be living away from his wife for about six months every year.

Well Aleem should not mind this brief ‘separation’ because the sacrifice has earned him the kind of fame and fortune that many of his colleagues may not even dream of it. One has to pay the price for everything and in his case there’s loneliness.

Aleem, who started his career in cricket as a middle-order batsman and leg-spinner, also might not have imagined going this far in the game. How could he have known, at the time when he took to the game as a youngster, that he would be hailed as one of the greatest umpires one day?

It must have been a blessing in disguise for him that he didn’t score too many runs or took too many wickets to be considered for national selection. Rather he diverted his energies by standing as an umpire and didn’t look back after finding a firm foothold in the arena.

He proved an instant hit in the field of umpiring and his confidence level belied his age. He was in complete control while making decisions and his standout nerves of steel caught the imagination of the movers and shakers of the game.

He was only 32 when he stood in his first One-day International at Gujranawala in February 2000. He made it to the ICC panel in a matter of just a couple of years. He impressed everyone with his outstanding abilities and went on and on. He made his World Cup debut in 2003. He had the honour of standing in the final of the World Cup four years later.

Now he has traveled to every continent of the world having supervised Test matches and ODIs regularly. He is one of the busiest umpires in the game today.

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