Pakistan umpires were instrumental in improving the standard of umpiring in IPL: Asad Rauf

Not many would’ve though that the Indian Premier League (IPL) would become such a big brand when it started in 2008. India’s success in the inaugural T20 World Cup also worked in its favour and 12 years down, the popularity of the cash-rich league is only increased with every passing season. Rather even in a pandemic year, the IPL is happening and the ICC T20 World Cup is postponed.

However, the umpiring standards in the tournament are criticised even now and the situation was the same for the IPL in its early days. The Pakistan umpire Asad Rauf recalls that the cash-rich league suffered a lot due to the poor umpiring in its earlier seasons and the BCCI took steps to improve it. According to him, the Pakistani umpires were also crucial to the Indian T20 League in its success.

Asad Rauf made the statement while highlighting the poor umpiring standards in the Pakistan Super League (PSL). He reckons that wrong decisions by the on-field ruins the reputation of the tournament and it has to improve. He also feels that level of umpiring has declined drastically in Pakistan and has listed down multiple reasons for the same.

“The standard of umpiring in PSL needs to be improved as well because poor umpiring can easily ruin a tournament. For instance, if you remember the first few seasons of IPL, fans and even team captains complained about umpiring which is why steps were taken to improve it. Even umpires were called from Pakistan, despite strained relations between the two countries, because of our correct decisions on the field.

“Pakistani umpires were instrumental to IPL’s success. Umpiring is not an easy job by any stretch of the imagination. The standard of umpiring in Pakistan has gone down because of a variety of reasons, which includes lack of monetary incentives and absence of technical people for the role,” he said while speaking to Cricket Pakistan.

Nadeem Ghauri feels cricketers should take up umpiring

Meanwhile, Nadeem Ghauri who has officiated in the international matches feels that the cricketers should become umpires having played the sport for a lot of years. The man himself played 147 FC and 127 List A matches apart from featuring 1 Test and six ODIs for Pakistan and is regarded as one of the better umpires in the country. He reckons that umpiring has become easier now thanks to the use of technology.

“I think umpiring is easier now, especially because of increased use of technology better facilities. Also, I feel that if a person has a cricketing background, he can go on to become a good umpire. I played 19-20 years of first-class cricket and that gave me a lot of confidence, when I was umpiring on the field.

“We aren’t seeing many Pakistani umpires being recognised by the ICC, which is disappointing. After me, Aleem Dar and Asad Rauf, atleast two to three more umpires should have part of ICC Elite Umpiring panel,” Ghauri said.