Aleem Dar quashes rumours surrounding his retirement, intends to continue till the 2019 World Cup

Pakistan umpire Aleem Dar has dismissed all rumours surrounding his retirement from international cricket and has stated that he has no intentions of calling it quits at least until the 2019 World Cup. Inspired by South African great Hashim Amla, Dar is also sporting a new bearded look.

Dar was present at the ‘Meet the press programme’ organised by Sports Journalists Association of Lahore as the chief guest on Wednesday. The three-time ICC Umpire of the year Aleem Dar has officiated in 322 international matches across all formats.

“I am not retiring. These are mere speculations. I am enjoying umpiring and I want to stand as an umpire till the next world cup in 2019,” Aleem was quoted as saying by Sportzwiki during the event organised by the Sports Journalists Association in Lahore.“The success and honour I gained from umpiring are because of my honesty and commitment with the game and I never comprised on these principles. I don’t take a decision on assumptions, what I see I go according to that,” Dar added.

Also read: MS Dhoni the coolest cricketer one can ever know: Mohammad Kaif

Urging the Pakistan cricket board to pay the umpires well, Dar said that if there is not enough money in umpiring then very few people will take up umpiring as a profession. He also stated that as the English and the Australian umpires are paid well in their domestic competitions, they don’t get that desire to be a part of the Elite Panel of Umpires. “If the umpires are not well paid, then fewer people will take up umpiring as a profession,” he was quoted as saying.

The top notch umpire was also in favour of technology being used in the game as he feels that the assistance of DRS has actually helped the umpires improve themselves in their decision making.

“With the introduction of ‘referral’ implementation, a positive impact has been seen in the game as players and umpires relations have improved. Due to a variety of shots in the T20 cricket, it was imperative to implement DRS system and ICC has taken a good decision to have it in the shortest version of the game. It is a challenge to stand as an umpire during five days of a test match as it requires best of your abilities during that time long time period,” he signed off.