Aleem Dar breaks record for most ODIs as umpire

DUBAI, Nov 01 (https://www.dawn.com): Pakistan's Aleem Dar will surpass Rudi Koertzen's record of most One-day Internationals as an umpire in the second match between Pakistan and Zimbabwe at Rawalpindi on Sunday, which will be his 210th ODI.

The 52-year-old, who played first-class cricket in Pakistan for over a decade as an all-rounder before taking up umpiring, had also made his ODI debut in Pakistan, when he stood in a match against Sri Lanka in his hometown of Gujranwala in February 2000.

Last year, Aleem passed his idol Steve Bucknor to the top of the Test umpires' list. He holds the record of officiating in 132 Test matches and is second in the list of T20Is, only behind compatriot Ahsan Raza, with 46 T20Is. Aleem has officiated in 387 international matches so far, the most by any umpire.

Commenting on the impeding milestone, Aleem said on Saturday: "It is a matter of great honour for me to be on the top of the list of both Tests and ODIs for umpires.