Aleem Dar sports a beard, reveals the reason too

Pakistan umpire Aleem Dar is a member of the ICC Elite Umpire Panel and has been umpiring since 2000. He is one of the best umpires in international cricket and has officiated in 118 Test matches, 190 ODIs and 43 T20Is. Dar has been an accurate umpire as he has won three ICC Umpire of the Year Awards from 2009 to 2011.

Dar sports a beard

Dar was sporting a long beard. PTC Sports revealed that South African legend Hashim Amla inspired Dar to keep a beard, which the umpire was contemplating for a long time. Dar is a Muslim by religion and Amla, who himself sports a long beard, asked him to do the good deed immediately.

Fans of the Pakistani umpire were surprised to see him in this new avatar. Few of them failed to recognise the umpire at first glance.

Dar has officiated in four World Cups: 2003, 2007, 2011 and 2015. In 2011, Dar showed amazing consistency and accuracy of his decisions as all 15 DRS appeals against his decisions were struck down. Till date, he remains the first and only umpire from Pakistan to be on the List of Elite Panel of ICC umpires.

Controversy in Dar’s impeccable career

Dar’s career had a controversy too when he was suspended by the ICC for misinterpretation of the rules for bad light in the finals of ICC World Cup 2007. Dar allowed Australia to bowl three unnecessary overs which saw him ruled out of the first edition of ICC World t20 in 2007.

Barring this rare blip, Dar has been ever reliable in his umpiring in a career that spans 17 years now. The 48-year old umpire is all set to officiate in the eighth edition of the ICC Champions Trophy.