Lahore
The Pakistan Cricket Board has congratulated Pakistan’s international umpire Aleem Dar for equaling the record of officiating in the highest number of Test matches.
The veteran umpire on Thursday equalled West Indian umpire Steve Bucknor’s record of officiating in the most Test matches after taking the field for the 128th time during the second Ashes Test between England and Australia at Lord’s.
“It’s a great honour to equal the number of Test matches of my role model, umpire Steve Bucknor” Dar, 51, was quoted as saying by the International Cricket Council.
Dar made his Test debut in a match between Bangladesh and England in Dhaka in October 2003. He has since then taken charge of 376 matches across all formats.
Besides Dar and Bucknor, South Africa’s Rudi Koertzen is the only other umpire to have reached the three figure mark in Tests, having stood in 108 Tests before calling it quits in 2010.
Dar won the David Shepherd Trophy three years in a row from 2009 to 2011, after being nominated twice in 2005 and 2006.
Before becoming an umpire, he played first-class cricket as a right-handed batsman and a leg-break bowler for Allied Bank, Gujranwala, Lahore and Pakistan Railways.
Born on June 6, 1968 in Jhang, Dar made his international umpiring debut in an One-day International between Pakistan and Sri Lanka at Gujranwala on February 16, 2000.—Agencies
