Asad Rauf: “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”
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Former umpire Asad Rauf has claimed that Pakistan has been “instrumental” to the Indian Premier League’s (IPL) success.
Explaining how, Rauf said that the quality of umpiring was not up to par in the first few seasons of the IPL, which is why Pakistani umpires were called up. He noted this was “because of our correct decisions on the field”.
With that being said, the Pakistani umpire believes that Pakistan has done a lot to help make the IPL the biggest domestic T20 tournament in the world.
Meanwhile, the 64-year-old admitted that the standard of umpiring in the Pakistan Super League (PSL) hasn’t been great. He conceded that it will be concerning if it doesn’t improve as “poor umpiring can easily ruin a tournament”.
“The standard of umpiring in PSL needs to be improved as well because poor umpiring can easily ruin a tournament,” he told Cricket Pakistan. “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.”