‘Controversial’ Pakistan Cricket Umpire Asad Rauf Dies At 66

Lahore: Asad Rauf, a former ICC Elite Panel umpire from Pakistan, died after suffering a cardiac arrest in Lahore. He was 66.

He officiated in 231 international matches between 2000 and 2013 and gave a new identity to Pakistan’s umpiring panel and enhanced its reputation. But his career was cut short after he was named as a “wanted accused” by Mumbai police in an investigation into the IPL spot-fixing scandal. While he was soon dropped from the ICC’s elite panel, the BCCI banned him for five years in 2016 on four charges of corruption and misconduct.

In 2012, a model based out of Mumbai had also accused him of sexually exploiting her on the pretext of marriage.

The year before, Rauf was also accused of sexual exploitation from a model based out of Mumbai after she claimed that he had promised to marry her but backed out.

Rauf had a substantial first-class career as a middle-order batter before he turned to umpiring. He scored 3423 runs from 71 First-Class games and 611 runs in 40 List-A matches.

Earlier this year, when a video of Rauf selling shoes at Pakistan’s famous Landa Bazaar went viral. He was said to own a second-hand shop in the market.