Former Pakistan umpire blames BCCI after controversial end to career

Former Pakistan umpire Asad Rauf was one of the members of the ICC Elite Panel but his career in cricket came to a controversial end. He currently owns a thrift shop where he sells clothes and shoes at Landa Bazaar in Lahore. The 66-year-old was accused of taking bribes from bookies and also for betting on matches during IPL 2013. However, Rauf has shot down all such claims. In an interview with Cricket Pakistan, said that he has a judge’s verdict that serves as an evidence to prove that he is innocent. “The supposed incident occurred in 2013 and BCCI were asleep for three years. They opened up an inquiry in 2016 and it was a forced inquiry because there was no truth to it”, he said. The former umpire went on to say that he had already made up his mind to call it quits back in 2013 and also informed the ICC. He said that the ICC never approached him regarding any controversy related to the IPL. “I told ICC that I will be handing in my resignation after 2013. I am answerable to ICC and not to the BCCI; if the BCCI wanted to lodge a one-side case against me in India then that’s on them. Because as far as I am concerned, the ICC never took charge of the situation because there was no truth to these allegations to begin with,” he added. Apart from the thrift store, Rauf also owns an iron and metal business. Rauf was an experienced umpire and had good relations with the players. He stood in several high-profile games and as far as numbers are concerned, he umpired in 49 Tests, 98 ODIs, 23 T20Is and eight women’s T20Is. Before he took up umpiring as a career, he was a right-hand batter.